Disturbed Paradise
by Mystic Lady Fae
Summary: Reposted Sequel to Lonely Hearts As the Raineys settle in to family life, Amber learns that the past isn't so easily left behind...
1. Homeward Bound

Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey, or anything **_Secret Window_**.

AN: **Please read the top half of my bio page. The explanations are there.**

**Chapter 1: Homeward Bound:**

_Amber's POV_:

The ride to our hotel was peaceful, and the atmosphere inside the limo quivered with love and excitement as Mort and I took our little girl home for the very first time. After my parents had left the hospital fuming, Mort had quickly slipped my brother his cellphone number so that he could call whenever he wanted. Mike gave me and Elizabeth quick goodbye kisses as he was leaving, but not before promising to call us so we could send him a plane ticket to come visit us as soon as summer vacation came. After that, Mort and I were briefed by the hospital staff before we left, and had been given instructions on how to care for Elizabeth and to help me recover from childbirth faster.

The journey out to the car was somewhat eventful and _very_ blinding. With dozens of flashbulbs going off in our faces, Mort and I managed to pacify the crowd of reporters waiting for us by posing for pictures, but not letting them get an actual photo of Elizabeth's face…after all, we didn't want our baby to be blind before she turned a week old! _Damn those photographers_…

Anyway, the ride to the hotel was wonderful as Mort and I cooed over Elizabeth and talked about what was going to happen next. Mort and I both agreed to stay at the hotel for a while so I could regain my strength, but after that, Mort and I didn't know what to do. The cabin wasn't ready for a baby, and it wasn't big enough for three of us. There was only one bedroom, and we couldn't keep Elizabeth in our room forever, so we figured we needed to expand the cabin or buy a new cabin.

We eventually reached the hotel, and Mort quickly leapt out so that he could help me with Elizabeth. We were greeted by several staff members, and were soon surrounded by bellboys and hotel staff, all wanting a look at our new bundle of joy. We were only allowed to leave after Elizabeth started crying, signaling that she was either hungry, cranky, or needed a changing, so we bid a hasty farewell to everyone as we stepped onto the elevator and headed upstairs. A fantastic sight awaited us as we stepped into the room, causing Mort and I to stop in our tracks and gape.

The living room was crammed full of gifts of all sizes, including a fully assembled changing table and a beautiful white baby bassinette. The changing table was stocked with changing supplies, and had several one-piece baby outfits folded and stacked on it. The bassinette was covered in layers of white cloth and soft silvery lace, with a curved covering over the top half. Little silver bows dotted the lace and cloth coverings, it was the most beautiful, and most delicate-looking, bassinette I'd ever seen.

As Mort checked the gifts to see who had sent what, I headed directly to the changing table, where I gently lay Elizabeth down and checked to see if she needed changing. She did, and I changed her without any hesitation as to what to do. Once I was finished, I found a cute yellow one-piece pajama outfit, complete with booties already woven to it, and dressed Elizabeth in it. After carefully dressing her, I put Elizabeth into her bassinette and watched as she examined her new bed with curious eyes. Satisfied that she was comfortable, I turned around and saw Mort smiling at me.

"What?" I asked, giving him a puzzled look.

He grinned. "You did that like a natural, Amber," Mort replied, walking over to put his arms around me while Elizabeth made happy noises in her bed.

I blushed. "Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how a diaper works," I said, rolling my eyes.

Mort laughed. "Very true, darling," he said, wrapping his arms even tighter around me.

We both turned and watched Elizabeth make noises and glance around her new bassinette. She looked so small and so precious that I felt tears swell up in my eyes. I couldn't believe it…I had created life with the man that I loved, and here we were, a family of three. A tear escaped my eye, and I felt Mort's finger gently wipe it away.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, turning my head so that I looked directly into his eyes.

"Nothing," I said, looking down at Elizabeth as she began drifting off to sleep, her tiny hands curling up into fists. "It's just that…I've realized that we managed to create a new living being…together."

Mort tightened his grip around me, and I felt his lips on my neck as he pulled me close to his body. His hands wandered up and down my body, and I sighed, closing my eyes as I felt absolute bliss fill me. I felt him gently pull me towards the bedroom, and stopped in my tracks, remembering what the doctors had told me before we left the hospital.

"Amber?" Mort asked, puzzled at my hesitation.

I looked up at my husband and gave him an apologetic smile. "Mort, you know we can't sleep together for at least six weeks," I told him. "The doctors told us so, and I'm not going to disobey them."

Mort pouted, looking extremely sexy and adorable at the same time. I gave a quiet laugh so as not to wake Elizabeth, and gathered up several gifts, shoving them into Mort's hands before gathering up a few more and heading for the bedroom, Mort trailing behind me. We set the gifts on the bed and continued to bring all of them to the bedroom so that we could open them without waking our little sleeping beauty in the next room. Once we had gathered all of the gifts together, I left the door open so we could hear Elizabeth if she woke, and Mort and I set about opening the gifts.

Most of the boxes were from authors or publishers that Mort knew from throughout his writing career, and I was amazed that they had all sent something to someone they probably hadn't seen in years. I was thankful that most of the gifts were practical stuff that could be used over and over again, like soft washcloths, baby bottles, toys, and blankets. There were _lots_ of blankets, but that was alright; at least we knew that Elizabeth would never catch cold! Of course, there were clothes, shoes, and socks, but those were all things that would be outgrown in no time. Still, everything was appreciated.

However, the best thing in the entire bunch was a stack of fairytale books for me to read to Elizabeth as she grew up. Each book was thin, but all of them contained a number of the traditional fairytales, each story beautifully drawn out and painted in amazing colors and details. They were so vibrant and beautiful that they took my breath away. As I flipped through the books, I realized that there hadn't been a tag on them to tell me who they were from. Confused, I frantically looked at the wrapping paper, but found nothing.

"Mort, where is the tag that came with these books?" I asked, getting up to look through all of the wrapping paper that Mort had moved onto the floor. I began lifting bits of paper in a frantic search to find out who could have sent such an amazing gift.

"There wasn't one, darling," he said, putting all of the gifts neatly on the floor and neatly stacking them so that the bed was empty of everything but us and the books.

The tone of his voice made me look up at him. His eyes were soft, like warm brown velvet, and full of love. I also saw joy and pleasure in his eyes, but couldn't understand why. Mort must have seen my puzzlement because he reached over and plucked a book out of the stack, opening it up to the inside of the front cover. When he showed it to me, I saw there was a message inside of it.

'_To My Baby Princess,_

_May the stories in these books come true for you in real life, and may you find the Prince of your dreams._

_Love, Daddy_'

I felt tears swell up in my eyes as I read the message, and took the book from Mort's grasp.

"Each book has a special message just like that," Mort whispered to me as he crept to my side, sliding an arm around me. "I picked them up while you were resting after the birthing, and had them wrapped and delivered to our room. What do you think of them?"

I closed the book, and put the entire stack on the floor. Turning back towards my husband, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my lips to his. Mort sighed with pleasure, and soon had me on my back on the bed, his arms tightly wrapped around me as we continued to kiss. Even though we couldn't make love, we were allowed a _few_ loving moments, so we spent who-knows-how-long kissing and caressing each other. Eventually, we stopped and lay on the bed, holding one another as we drifted off to a light sleep.

* * *

_  
Two hours later, Mort's POV_: 

As he lay in bed, his sleeping wife in his arms, Mort could feel something that he'd never felt before: _utter completion_. He had a wonderful, caring, beautiful wife, a beautiful, precious treasure in the shape of a tiny baby girl, and a career that could provide a good life for all three of them. What more could any man ask for in life?

'_Nothing_,' thought Mort, stroking his wife's hair and rubbing her back. '_There's nothing more that I could want in life, and I'd have to be insane to want anything more._'

Well, one thing he wanted was for Amber's parents to be pushed off the face of the planet. Her mother was exceptionally maddening, and he desperately needed to do something about that woman. Her father seemed alright, but what sort of father allows his wife to emotionally abuse his children?

'_A pathetic one_,' Mort thought, his blood boiling at the thought of his daughter getting into the hands of his in-laws. '_I'll **never** allow those horrible people touch Elizabeth, even when they come to see Amber. I'll **always** be there to protect them, no matter what happens!_'

Amber shifted in his arms, and Mort tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer so she could snuggle against him. He liked it when she did that; it made him seem needed, and he knew that she liked it as well. Mort considered himself lucky that he had a wife that was extremely affectionate and liked to hug, cuddle, kiss, and hold hands. _Amy had never liked that sort of thing_…

A small noise from the next room snatched his attention away from that last thought. Mort gently pulled himself away from Amber and quietly slipped into the living room to see what had made that noise. A shuffling sound came from the bassinette, so Mort tiptoed over and peaked inside. Elizabeth's brown eyes met his, and he could see her face crumple as though she were getting ready to cry. Panicked, Mort tried to quickly decide what to do. If Elizabeth began crying, Amber would wake up, and she needed her rest. No, waking Amber was out of the question. Looking down, he saw Elizabeth's face was crumpled and he knew he had to do something, fast.

Making up his mind, Mort reached into the bassinette and picked up his little girl, making sure to cradle her head like the doctors told him. He settled Elizabeth's head into the crook of his elbow and held her like he had seen Amber and the nurses do. As he shifted her around in his arms, Mort noticed that Elizabeth's face had smoothed out, and that she was looking up at him with wide brown eyes, seemingly to try and figure out who the man holding her was. Mort smiled and rocked her.

"It's alright, princess," Mort whispered to her. "I'm your daddy, and I'm going to take good care of you and Mommy, don't you worry. Those bad parents of hers will never hurt you, I promise."

Leaning forward, he gently kissed the tiny forehead and the small curl of hair lying in the middle of it. When he pulled back, Elizabeth gave him a long look before drifting back to sleep. Smiling at his success, Mort continued to rock his daughter back and forth, enjoying the feeling of being needed by the tiny bundle in his arms.

* * *

_  
A Week Later: Amber's POV_: 

"Amber, have you seen Elizabeth's pacifier?" Mort called to me, frantic.

I rolled my eyes. "It's in my purse, Mort, I told you that two minutes ago!"

It had been a week since we had brought Elizabeth to the hotel, and now it was time to return to Tashmore Lake. Mort and I had decided to raise Elizabeth in two places, primarily our cabin in the woods and a new loft Mort had bought in New York City by Central Park. However, it was in Tashmore that Elizabeth had been created, and it was there that we would raise her. The only problem was that the cabin didn't have enough room to raise a baby, but Mort promised to expand it as best he could. I had my doubts about that, but still, I had faith in my husband's abilities.

After we had packed up our things and shipped them off ahead of us to the cabin, Mort had dressed Elizabeth in a cute green pajama outfit and we were in a chauffeur-driven luxury car on our way home. It was a fairly long drive to our cabin and I was sure Elizabeth was going to start fussing on the ride there, but Mort somehow managed to entertain her the entire ride there. He achieved this miracle by making funny faces at her and talking in strange voices during the whole ride, and was encouraged by the smiles and wide-eyed glances Elizabeth gave him. It was the best trip I'd ever taken.

When the car turned into our driveway and we made to go inside, our jaws dropped in sync. Our cabin was _not_ the cabin we had left.

Slowly getting out of the car, Mort and I slowly walked up a new stone path to the front porch, which was no longer a screen-enclosed alcove cluttered with junk. It had been cleaned out, and expanded at least four feet in order to hold the new furniture and porch swing that had been installed. The porch and furniture were all wood, but a tough _elegant_ wood to hold up to the elements and abuse a child would put it through.

As I carried Elizabeth past the porch and through the front door, I saw that the interior was the same but for one thing: _it had been baby-proofed_. There was a gate around the stairs, top and bottom, to keep Elizabeth from climbing up or falling down them, and there was also a gate across the doorway to the kitchen. The tables now had cushioning around the corners so that when Lizzie started crawling or walking, she wouldn't hurt her head. In other words, everything that could be done to protect our daughter had been done to the cabin. When Mort and I walked around the cabin, we saw that a bigger, more amazing change had been done to the house.

_Someone had added other rooms to the cabin_.

Where the kitchen had once been the outer room of the right-hand side of the cabin, a playroom had been added on to the kitchen, and a nursery had been added on to what had been the rear of Mort's study, making it easily accessible from the master bedroom. The nursery smelled fresh and slightly sweet, like vanilla, and not like paint or varnish, meaning that this had all been added quite some time ago, most likely when I was still pregnant.

I touched the white crib and admired the soft atmosphere of the room. It was bare of anything too babyish, like teddy bear wallpaper or storks. All it had were soft clouds, a rainbow, some flowered hills on the walls, and a beautiful sun on the ceiling amid more clouds. It was perfectly designed by someone who didn't know whether to expect a girl or boy, and it was the perfect room to sooth an upset baby of either gender. The dresser, crib, rocking chair, changing table, hamper, and toy chest were an off-white/crème color that blended with the atmosphere of the room, and I instantly fell in love with it. I tested the crib to see if it was secure before putting Elizabeth in it and found it sound. I then placed my dozing baby inside her new bed and picked up a baby monitor to take with me as I wandered the house.

Mort took my hand and the monitor and led me past the baby gates and downstairs into the new playroom. The plaster was painted pale yellow and the bottom half of the walls were wood painted white. Here there was another rocking chair, as well as a baby-fence to keep Lizzie confined to a certain area when she started crawling and walking. There were also numerous thick cushions stacked in a corner and several chests waiting to be filled with toys and clothes. It was the perfect child's playroom.

"Mort, who could have done all of this?" I breathed, looking up at him. "Did you do this?"

Mort shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart, but it never crossed my mind to do this," he said, looking around. "Remember, I was too busy with the book to plan out something like this, so it wasn't me."

Suddenly, the phone rang, and the two of us quickly went into the living room to answer it before it woke Elizabeth from her nap. Mort got to it before I did, and I patiently waited to see who had called.

"Hello?" Mort answered, looking over at me as he talked. After a moment, he motioned me over to listen in on the conversation.

"Hello, Mr. Rainey," said an unusually chipper voice at the other end. "This is Tonya, from your publishing company. I hope that you enjoy the new additions we've provided for your cabin?"

Mort and I exchanged shocked glances. His publishing company had done this? I doubted that. They didn't usually do stuff like this…did they?

Tonya chuckled. "I know that it's an unusual move on our part, but we thought that we'd thank you for completing the tour under the circumstances that you and your wife were under. If there are any problems with anything, be sure to call us, alright?"

"Uh, sure," Mort replied as he looked at me.

Tonya then hung up and left the two of us standing in the middle of the living room, staring at one another until the annoying dial tone of the phone snapped us out of it. Mort hung up the receiver and turned towards me, an odd sort of smile on his face.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about expanding the cabin," he said, suddenly turning cheerful.

I laughed and the childlike joy he displayed and hugged him. Mort really was a strange man. He could be so passionate and adult one minute, then turn childlike and eager the next. I suppose that's what I love most about him…he keeps surprising me in the most amazing ways, and I never grow tired of it. I think I'm the luckiest woman in the world.

Meanwhile, Mort wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried his face in my neck, simply content in holding me close to him. Well, not as close to him as it used to be before the pregnancy. I'd definitely have to lose weight after this, but I doubt I'll ever be the same size I was before Elizabeth was born. I sighed, and Mort pulled back to look at me.

"What's wrong, darling?" he asked, rubbing my back.

I smiled. "Just thinking about all of the weight I'll have to lose," I said. I was definitely not looking forward to having to work my butt off to lose the pounds I had packed on over the past several months.

Mort blinked. "What weight?" he asked, seemingly confused about the whole thing.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Mort, you can't stand there and expect me to believe that you haven't noticed the pounds I've put on during my pregnancy," I said. There was no way Mort _wasn't_ able to see how heavy I'd become!

He gave me a quick scan and shook his head. "Honestly, Amber, I can't see a thing you need to lose," he said.

The amazing thing was, I think he meant it. He had been blind to my personal flaws before, but even he couldn't ignore how much heavier I was! I opened my mouth to say something, but was stopped when Mort kissed me, holding me tightly as though he were afraid I'd disappear from his grasp.

"Don't you dare change a thing about yourself, Amber." He stared into my eyes and I knew that it wasn't a request. Mort honestly didn't want me to change anything about my weight?

"But I thought all men liked skinny women," I said, surprised at his words.

"Not me," Mort replied, rubbing his nose against mine. "I _love_ women with curves." He began rubbing my hips with his thumbs. "And it would take me forever to show you how much I love you."

I kissed him to let him know how much I believed him.

* * *

  
AN: The other chapters (2-4) of the story will either be up by now or will follow very soon after this. I'm sorry that this had to happen, andI hope that everyonewill stick with me through this process! 


	2. The Good Life, Or is it?

Disclaimer: I wish I owned the sexy Mort Rainey and his cabin, but I don't.

AN: For those of you who **didn't** read my author's notes for the first chapter: please read my bio for explainations. For those who did: here is chapter two. I hope that my readers are all still with me and that you'll stick by me while I get this all cleared up and reposted! Thanks for your support!

**Chapter 2: The Good Life…Or is it?**:

_Amber's POV_:

The thing about babies is that you never know what to expect from them. Many of the nurses in the hospital had informed me of that, and I had taken their words to heart, even writing them down on a pad of paper a nurse had given me for just that purpose. Even with those notes, I could feel that I had a trying time in front of me, and so I braced myself for the worst.

The first few weeks away from the hospital, I went to bed early so I could get _some_ sleep before Elizabeth did the traditional crying-in-the-middle-of-the-night routine that all babies went through. However, I was shocked that Elizabeth never, _not once_, woke up in the night, crying for attention or to be held. I had woken up several times in the night, listening for her cries, but they never came.

One night, two weeks after we'd brought her home to the cabin, I had rushed to Elizabeth's crib, panicked as to what I might find there. I'd heard about babies dying in the night from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and I was scared to death that this would happen to my precious baby. For the next several nights, my rushing to Lizzie's side happened frequently, and I tried my best to do it without waking Mort. I was beginning to think that I was getting good at not waking him, but one nightly visit to the crib told me otherwise. I was bending over to check Elizabeth's breathing when I heard footsteps coming in from the hallway.

"Amber?" Mort whispered, coming up beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"It's nothing," I replied in a soft tone. Carefully reaching down, I stroked my sleeping baby's cheek, getting a thrill from the feel of her soft baby-skin on my fingers.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go to bed," Mort murmured in my ear as he gently led me away towards our room.

I didn't want to leave her, but with Mort gently dragging me, I didn't really have a choice. After we had entered our room, Mort left the door open and turned the baby monitor on so we could hear what was going on in Elizabeth's room. We had just tucked ourselves under the covers and wrapped our arms around each other when Mort grasped my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"Amber, I know you haven't been sleeping well these past few weeks," he said, his thumb gently caressing my chin. "What's on your mind?"

I sighed and snuggled into his warm firm chest. "I'm just worried about Lizzie not crying at night." I felt silly about my fear, but I couldn't hide it from Mort…he knew me too well. I let my husband pull me close and felt him bury his face in my hair.

"Most babies cry, but some don't," Mort whispered into my ear as he held me. "There's really nothing you can do about that."

"But what if she falls asleep and never wakes up again?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes. "What if she dies in her sleep from the Infant Death Syndrome?"

Mort grabbed my face and forced me to look him in the eye before kissing me, hard. I let him hold me and kiss away my fears, and, slowly, I calmed down and relaxed in his arms, my tears fading away to nothing. Once he was sure I was calm, he stroked my back until I fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

As he held his dozing wife in his arms, Mort couldn't help thinking about the fear that Amber had just told him. He knew that a woman's hormones were out of whack during pregnancy and after childbirth, and he couldn't help but feel this fear of hers might be caused by those same hormones. He knew about the tragedy that happened to some babies in the night, but he seriously doubted that anything like that would happen to _their_ child. Elizabeth was simply a good sleeper, that's all. The nurses at the hospital had told him that she had always slept straight through the night without causing problems, and to not be alarmed if she did the whole thing at home. However, Mort seriously doubted that _they_ had told _Amber_ that before she had left the hospital.

Mort sighed as he snuggled closer to his wife. It would be up to him to make sure that his wife got enough sleep and made it through her first few months of motherhood without losing her mind. So, confident in his husbandly and fatherly abilities, Mort drifted off to sleep, his wife in his arms, and his ears open for any sounds his baby girl might make in the night.

* * *

_  
Two months later, Amber's POV_: 

I was never as relieved as I was now. Mort had finally convinced me that Elizabeth was not going to die at night, and I had given up my nightly vigils by her crib at night. However, I heard Mort get out of bed at night several times during the week, and realized that he was just checking up on Elizabeth to let me get more sleep at night. I really did have the most amazing man for a husband…

As time passed, I felt like I was made for motherhood. It's funny really, but I'd never thought that I could handle kids (considering that I'd always been bad at babysitting other people's kids and had given up on that teenage occupation after only two babysitting jobs). Now, though, I felt like I was _meant_ to do this, to hold my baby when she cried for me, to change her, feed her, dress her, and play with her. It all came with rough times, like when she would spit up when I burped her, but that's the way life goes.

Mort, on the other hand, seemed to be having a difficult time with everything. He'd panic whenever he was alone with Elizabeth and she started crying, and he never knew how to calm her down besides hold her. He seemed to think that holding her would always calm her down, and I had a hard time breaking him of that idea. Eventually, I just gave up on it, and Mort and I came to an agreement as to how we would take care of Elizabeth. Our arrangement was simple, and it worked out fairly well (plus, we both got to spend time with our baby and have some time to ourselves). During the day, I would be with Elizabeth in the nursery or Lizzie's playroom while Mort tried to focus on his work. Whenever I thought Mort could use a break, I would take Lizzie to visit her daddy, and Mort would play with her for a couple of hours while I spent some time in my little library downstairs, reading and relaxing. Meanwhile, Mort would do "nightly duties" and keep an ear open in case Elizabeth needed something. Since Elizabeth was a sound sleeper and rarely woke up during the night, this arrangement worked out perfectly…plus it kept Mort from freaking out too much whenever Elizabeth cried or fussed.

One morning, as I was feeding Elizabeth in the living room, I heard the phone ring, so I waited to see if Mort would answer it. When it didn't stop, I looked up and opened my mouth to call Mort, but saw that he was sitting on the couch, directly on my left, watching me as I breastfed Elizabeth. For some reason, he always knows whenever I breastfeed and he always gets the oddest look in his eye whenever he sees me doing it…

"Mort, could answer the phone?" I asked, looking back down at Elizabeth.

It took me a few seconds to realize that the phone was still ringing, meaning that Mort hadn't moved an inch from his spot on the couch. Looking up again, I saw that he was still watching me as I fed Elizabeth, a strange smile on his lips. Sighing, I reached over with my free hand and gently slapped his cheek. Mort quickly snapped out of it with a small yelp and started looking around for whoever had slapped him. I started giggling and Mort pouted at me.

"I don't think I deserved that, darling," he said, rubbing his cheek.

"Mort, I asked you to answer the phone, and all you did was stare at my boob," I said, laughing at him as I closed my shirt and shifted to burp Elizabeth. "Now be a good boy and _answer the phone_!"

Mort muttered a few things as he got up and went to phone. As he picked it up, I focused my attentions on burping my baby girl. I had just finished when Mort came up beside me and held the phone in front of my face. I gave him a confused look, but from the concerned expression on his face, I knew the call couldn't be good.

"It's your brother," Mort whispered. "He sounds a bit…odd."

As I took the phone, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of nightmare my baby brother was going through at home with our parents, or had been through the last two months. I felt terrible for leaving him there, alone, without me there to protect him, but what could I do? Sighing, I handed Elizabeth to her father and took the phone from Mort.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Amber?" whispered Mike. He sounded frightened.

"Mike, are you okay?" I asked, worried that something had happened.

"Amber, can I come and visit you in a few weeks?" he asked. He sounded scared and…tired?

"Why, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Look, Amber, I can't talk for long before they get home, so could you just answer me?" my brother pleaded.

"Of course," I said, looking Mort in the eye to tell him something was wrong. "We'll send you a ticket ASAP, just keep an eye out for it, okay?"

"Thanks, sis," Mike whispered. There was the rumbling sound of an opening garage in the background. "Gotta go, Mom and Dad are home…I'll talk to you later, bye!"

"Mike?"

My call went unanswered and the sound of the dial tone filled my ear. I looked up at Mort. Even though he didn't really know my brother, the look in his eyes told me that he was genuinely concerned for my brother's wellbeing.

"What's wrong?" Mort asked, rocking Lizzie back and forth to get her to sleep.

"Mort, I think we need to get my brother here as soon as possible," I said, hanging up the phone. "I think my choosing to stay with you caused some sort of meltdown for my parents, and I think they're taking it out on Mike."

My eyes swelled with tears. My poor baby brother…I had always been there to protect him, and now he was thousands of miles away, in the hands of my now psychotic parents, alone and defenseless. I had to do something to help him, and help him _fast_.

"I'll call around and see what our options are," Mort said, taking Elizabeth upstairs. "Why don't you get some rest while I make dinner tonight?"

I nodded and sighed as I went to lie down on the couch. As my head fell to the pillow, I couldn't help but think about what my parents were doing to my brother, or what they had done over the past two and a half months. Were they mentally scaring Mike even worse than before my disappearance? If so, then couldn't there be something I could do to save him from it? Couldn't I take some sort of action against my parents for what they were doing to him?

Dozens of thoughts swirled in my head and I had barely closed my eyes before sleep claimed me.

* * *

_  
That Same Day, Mike's POV_: 

As he hung up the phone, Mike Olson made sure that his parents hadn't caught him calling his sister at her house. His mom and dad didn't know that Mort had given him his cellphone number and the number to their cabin in the woods, where he had taken Amber after kidnapping her and where they were living now. Breathing a sigh or relief at not being caught, Mike was extremely glad that he had both numbers. Cellphones had a habit of running out of minutes or become deactivated, while normal phones ran just fine, unless they were disconnected for some reason.

"Michael, get down here and help your mother!" his father yelled upstairs.

Mike rolled his eyes. Why did he (and in the past, his sister) always have to bring the groceries in and store them? His father never did that, nor did he help to wash the dishes, do the family laundry, or anything else to help out…oh, well…

After stowing away the food (and getting another lecture from his mother about his lack of strength and slowness of completing the matter), Mike flopped down on his waterbed and stared at his ceiling. It had been over two months since they had left Amber with Mort Rainey, and life had been a nightmare, even worse than it had been before. If he'd thought that life had sucked _before_ Amber had left them, things were a million times worse now! His mother spent the day screaming about how they should have done more to convince Amber to come home, and shouting insults at Mike for even the tiniest mistakes or flaws he had. Meanwhile, his father was always on the phone, trying to get a hold of someone who might know how to contact the cabin that Amber now lived in. When they were out of people to call or yell at, his parents screamed at _him_ because he hadn't wanted Amber to come home, and they called him stupid for siding with the insane author who had taken Amber from them. After two months of verbal and emotional bashing, Mike had decided to take matters into his own hands and call his sister…she was the only one who could help him out of this mess, thus the long-distance call to the cabin in New York.

'_I hope that plane ticket gets here soon_,' Mike thought, putting on his headphones and closing his eyes, copying what he'd seen Amber do whenever she wanted to escape the world. '_God, I miss her so much_!'

Not a day went by where he didn't think of his sister, or of the baby girl she had given birth to…however, he missed his sister more than the tiny infant he had seen for only a few hours. And yet, Mike really wanted to see his niece again, and maybe even have a hand in her growing up. After all, he was the youngest in the family, and he'd always wanted a baby brother or sister so he could try and set an example for…maybe this could be his chance…

Mike drifted off to sleep, visions of a certain baby girl in his mind.

* * *

_  
A Week Later, Amber's POV_: 

The plane ticket to my brother had gone out the same day he'd called us, and I couldn't be more relieved at the quick work and the strings Mort had pulled to get it to him. It was an open ticket so that Mike could come and visit us whenever school was out for the summer, and he could go home when he got tired of being in the same house as a newborn baby. Hopefully, no matter how much time he spent here, it would do him some sort of good to be here, away from Mom and Dad.

That time came sooner than we expected, and totally caught us off guard. I was putting Elizabeth down for her nap and Mort was in the middle of what he called his "next masterpiece" when someone started frantically knocking on our door. Through the door of the Elizabeth's bedroom, I gave Mort a pleading look, and he sighed as he got up and went to answer it. A few seconds later, I heard frantic whispering from downstairs, a car door slam, and the screech of tires, so I went to see what was going on. I was not prepared for what, or should I say _who_, greeted me in the living room…

"Surprise," Mike said, giving me a small smile and a wave.

An hour later, we were seated at the dinner table, hot cups of cocoa in front of the three of us and a baby monitor in the center in case Lizzie woke up. On my left, Mike had a shamed look on his face, and on my right, Mort looked ready to strangle someone, preferably my fool of a brother. I didn't know who to side with, but I was pretty close to smacking my brother in the head and kicking him out the door, after a good screaming lecture at him. However, first things first…

I took a deep breath. "Okay, let me get this straight," I said, very slowly. "You skipped the last week of school, packed a suitcase, and ran away from home so you could come here early and get away from Mom and Dad." I looked at my brother. "Is that right?"

Mike nodded, and I buried my head in my hands. Oh, God, my parents were going to burst a blood vessel when they find out where he is…oh, man, I could smell a lawsuit on our hands already. Mort would be arrested, Mike and I would be sent home, and Elizabeth…well, I'd be dead and buried before I let my parents touch my baby girl!

"I'm sorry for doing this to you, Amber, but you don't know what it's like at home these days!" he said, looking pleadingly into my eyes. "Mom and Dad have totally lost it, even more than they had before, and I couldn't take it anymore! Don't send me home, please let me stay!"

"Hold on," Mort said, preventing me from answering. "I may not be a lawyer, but I know one thing: Mike, as a seventeen year old boy, you are still a minor, and still subject to your parents. If you were eighteen, there'd be no problem with this arrangement. However, with you as a minor, and they as your parents, if they want you home, you have to go, no matter what you want. _If we're lucky_, they won't dump a lawsuit on us. If_ worst comes to worst_, we'll both be prosecuted and I'll be arrested for kidnapping, rape, and any other things your parents will make up with to charge me with. In that situation, you, Amber, and Elizabeth will all be home with your parents before you know it."

Mike paled. "So what do we do?" he whispered, clutching his mug tightly.

Mort sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'll get on the phone to my agent and my lawyer to see what we can work out with your parents," he said, fiddling with his mug before reaching over to cover my hand with his. "Maybe we can work a deal out with your parents."

* * *

_  
Hours Later, Amber's POV_: 

It was a long night of talking with Mort's lawyer and agent, but he eventually worked out something. While he was on the phone, I had settled my brother in a storage-turned-guestroom in the back of the cabin that I hadn't known _existed_ until Mort showed it to me. It had a door that looked so much like the walls of the cabin that it was invisible, even when walking right past it. Originally, Mort had turned it into a bedroom and was going to put me in here after kidnapping me, but had changed his mind. It was plainly decorated: desk, chair, lamp, wardrobe, bed, small TV, but Mike liked the room, since it meant that he could get some of privacy, and he liked the fact that the kitchen was close by so he could raid the fridge when he was hungry and not have to wake anyone. To him, the room "rocked."

After settling Mike in, I left him alone and went to talk to Mort. I thought that I was prepared for whatever news he had, but as I joined him at the window by the door, the first words out of his mouth were _not_ ones I wanted to hear.

"They want to see you," Mort said, combing his fingers through his tousled hair.

"Who?" I asked, looking at him and begging him not to say what I thought he was saying.

"Your parents," Mort whispered. "They'll let Mike stay and not press charges against me if you take Elizabeth into New York City and meet with them. They say it's only for a week, not long at all."

I snorted. "Only a week? Please, Mort, a week with my parents is like having a hole slowly drilled into your head, without anesthesia and having a dozen people screaming in your ears with bullhorns."

Mort sighed as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "It's the only way we can be together, Amber," he said, pulling me closer. "There's no other way."

I knew he was right, but I didn't want to admit it. This was the only way all of us, Mort, me, Mike, and my parents, would get everything we wanted.

There was no other way…

* * *

  
AN: Just thought I'd let you all know how much I appreciate you guys sticking with me. Peace out! 


	3. Visits and Negotiations

Disclaimer: Everything **_Secret Window_** does not belong to me…I wish it did, but it doesn't.

AN: Once again (if you didn't do it for the first two chapters), bio page for info. Otherwise, love to ya all!

**Chapter 3: Visits and Negotiations**:

_Amber's POV_:

From the Mort gave me, my parents were coming to New York in three weeks, and they were the longest three weeks of my life. I grew increasingly nervous as that dreadful day drew closer…the day Elizabeth and I would be visited by my parents. I could understand why Mom and Dad wouldn't want Mort coming along, but at the last minute, my wonderful husband decided to come anyway. I think he didn't want my parents to try and steal me and Lizzie away while we were unattended by him and a few bodyguards. To tell you the truth, I was relieved that Mort was coming because, like him, I didn't trust my parents as far as I could throw them.

Despite my nervousness, we actually had a pleasant time together in the cabin. At first, it didn't seem like four people could live in the cabin, but it actually worked fairly well. Mike was very helpful in washing dishes or cooking when Mort and I were busy, and we all spent the evenings together, talking over evening snacks of hot cocoa, chips and salsa, and popcorn. I think that Elizabeth enjoyed our evenings together, too, because she seemed to like having several different people to hold her and entertain her whenever she got cranky. She particularly liked it when her Uncle Mike talked to her while they were playing together…

Finally, two days before our meeting with my parents, Mort and I gave strict instructions on the care of the cabin to my brother, who would be staying there alone while Mort and I went into the city. He seemed sort of uncomfortable with the idea of staying alone in the woods, but Mort assured him that no one came up to the cabin unless it was absolutely necessary. Also, Mort told him that there was no way for anyone to sneak in because of double-shielded glass on the door and windows, so there was nothing to worry about. Mike seemed to breathe easier after that, and he was actually smiling as Mort and I drove away, Elizabeth cooing happily in her carseat.

Mort was extremely tense as he drove, his hands gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. His usually soft brown eyes were hard and focused, and he was frowning a great deal. I wanted to comfort him, but I was in the back seat with Elizabeth, keeping her happy and entertained. Mort only started to relax after he heard Lizzie let out a happy gurgle during one of our games of '_peak-a-boo_;' his shoulders slackened, and his grip on the wheel relaxed. During one of our stops to stretch our legs, he picked up Elizabeth and held her tightly, but gently, to his chest, slowly becoming the gentle, kind man I had married. After that, the ride was far less tense, and he even joked with me as he drove. When we finally passed into the city limits, Mort drove directly to the flat he had bought after Elizabeth's birth. A valet took care of our car, and Mort took Elizabeth and escorted us upstairs. When the door opened, I couldn't believe how beautifully decorated it was.

It was the complete opposite of our cabin by the lake. Where the cabin was rough and simple, this house was the embodiment of modern. The walls were crème colored, there was thick blue carpet on the floor, and the couch and loveseat were cushy and made from a black material that I couldn't identify. The tables were smooth mahogany, and there were black lamps everywhere. The kitchen sported rose-colored marble counters, a large sink, and all of the necessary cooking appliances were in various shades of silver and black. Mort showed me the beautiful pale blue bathroom for common use by us and guests, and the black-and-white marble bathroom inside the elegant plumb-and-white painted and furnished master bedroom.

Elizabeth's room and nursery were one and the same, but it was a huge dark blue room with glow-in-the-dark stars on the walls and ceiling. A night sky themed mobile hung over a silvery-white crib, and when I turned it on, it played _Once Upon A Dream_, my favorite song from the Disney movie **_Sleeping Beauty_**. Smiling, I lay Elizabeth in her crib and watched as she followed the movement of the mobile with her eyes. After several moments, her eyes fluttered shut and she was sound asleep.

Once we were sure she was really sleeping, Mort showed me the spare room, which was the main reason he had bought the loft in the first place. He had known that I wanted my brother to visit, and since none of the other apartments he had looked at had included a guestroom, Mort had bought this one the second he had found out about it. It was a forest green room with dark wood everywhere, creating the illusion that the person was actually sleeping in a forest. The ceiling and walls even had faint leaf patterns on them! Even though this was meant to be my brother's room while he was here, for now it would be the room my parents would sleep in. _I'd have to remember to buy new sheets for the bed after they left_…

Finally, Mort took me out to the front room and sat on the couch, pulling me down to sit with him. He wrapped an arm around me and lifted me into his lap, burying his face in my hair and breathing in the scent of my shampoo. I heard him sigh and snuggle closer, his arms clutching me even tighter. I gently placed my arms around his neck and held him, knowing that he feared what might happen over the upcoming week. I knew that, of all things in the world, Mort feared losing me and Elizabeth and having to face life without us scared him down to the core of his soul. He knew that I wouldn't leave him willingly, but he feared my parents snatching me and our baby away from right under his nose.

"Would you mind if I called in a dozen bodyguards to stand outside while your parents are here?" Mort murmured into my hair.

I smiled and moved back so I could look into his eyes. "Even though that _would_ make me feel better, I doubt my parents would like it," I whispered to him, giving him a quick kiss. "They had a bad experience with our bodyguards the last time they were here, remember?"

Mort sighed and pulled me into another kiss before pulling back and looking me in the eye. "I don't care," he whispered as he kissed me again. "I'll call in the Army and the National Guard if it keeps you and Elizabeth safe."

"I know," I whispered through another kiss. I also knew that he'd tear the world apart in order to keep anything from happening to our family.

We spent several moments like that, holding and kissing each other until we dozed off in each other's arms.

* * *

_  
Two Days Later, Amber's POV_: 

Today was _the_ day…the day my parents arrived. Mort and I did _not_ go to the airport to pick them up, but had instead hired someone to pick them up in our place. Instead, we stayed in the apartment and "tidied up" the entire place, including the guestroom. Once that was done, I dressed Elizabeth in a cute purple dress outfit, put little white booties on her feet, and carried her out to wait in the living room, where Mort was waiting with a couple bodyguards that he had secretly hired when I wasn't looking. I hadn't even known about them until this morning; I came out for breakfast and got the scare of my life after seeing two huge men in my kitchen!

I was surprised, to see the least, but not upset by Mort's actions. After all, we didn't know how my parents were going to act, or what actions they were capable of, so it was better to be safe then sorry. I also knew that there would be two guards following my parents wherever they went, and there would be two outside the door at all times. Four guards seemed like too few to Mort, but he knew that too many would upset me (I didn't like to be followed everywhere) and Elizabeth.

Finally, we heard the buzzer that the front desk used to call up and announce guests. Mort quickly picked up the phone and told the clerk to let them up as we waited for their arrival. Elizabeth seemed to sense that we were uneasy because she started fussing and squirming in my arms. I tried to calm her down, but all she did was squirm even more. Finally, I went to the living room and put her down in the blue bassinette that Mort had bought yesterday, and she quickly settled down. I was just putting a blanket over her when there was a knock on the door. Mort and I exchanged glances as he went to answer the door. I heard it open and took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever might be thrown at me.

"Where is my daughter!" shrieked a piecing voice. _Ladies and gentlemen, my mother has entered the building_…

Elizabeth immediately began to cry, and I sighed as I picked her up and rocked her. Trust my mother to ruin a perfectly peaceful moment for my daughter. As I rocked Elizabeth, my mother and father stormed into the room and practically attacked me with harsh words, scoldings, and lectures. I ignored them as they asked annoying questions, like why I hadn't been there to greet them at the airport with Elizabeth, and _how could I_ send a chauffeur instead of coming myself? They continued in their questions, asking things like why were there bodyguards here, how could I let my brother come out here unescorted, and was I insane as to let my 'crazy kidnapper' stay here while we were all supposed to be here together as a family. Quickly getting tired of them frightening my daughter _and_ insulting Mort, I walked away and headed for my husband. I handed Elizabeth to him, nodded towards the nursery, and waited for Mort to shut the door before I turned to face my parents.

"Don't you people ever _shut up_!" I said, loud enough to be heard and soft enough to not disturb Elizabeth. My parents' jaws dropped as they stared at me. "You've only been here for two minutes and you've managed to not only frighten my daughter and insult me, but also insult the man I love! If I didn't have to have you here to keep Mike, Elizabeth, and Mort safe and happy, I'd kick you both out of here right now!"

My mother's eyes narrowed and her mouth opened, but before she could say anything, my father put a hand over her mouth to shut her up. He then turned and looked at me, anger and hurt in his eyes.

"Amber, there's no need to yell," he gently chided me.

_God, he's chiding me like a child_! I frowned. "There _is_ a need to yell if _you_ were yelling and insulting us first!" I snapped at him. "So you can either behave or leave."

My father sighed. "Amber, he took you from your home," he said, repeating what he'd said in the hotel and hospital room a few months ago. "I still don't understand why you want to remain with him as his prisoner wife!"

I grit my teeth and kept my anger in check. I needed to keep calm so that Elizabeth and I could stay with Mort, and so that Mike could have a place to escape to. I took a deep, calming breath and glared at my parents.

"I am not Mort's prisoner wife," I slowly replied, trying to keep my anger in check. "He is my husband, the father of my child, _and I love him_. I don't care what you think about him, but Mort is a kind, considerate man who loves me and Elizabeth more than anything in the world, so stop insulting a man you know nothing about!"

My father sighed but said nothing else as he removed his hand from my mother's mouth. My mother glared at me, but said nothing further on the subject of my husband. I knew that they would never believe me, but I had to defend the man I loved as he had defended me. After all, I'd do anything for him, and for my brother and daughter.

Before either of us could say anything more, Mort came into the room and walked up to my side, his arm wrapping itself around my shoulders to comfort and support me. I smiled up at him and leaned into him, grateful for the warmth and protection he was giving me. He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I put an arm around him, hugging him close. I needed all of the love and comfort Mort could give me, and I knew that he would do everything in his power to help me get through whatever sort of nightmare my parents were likely to put me through during their week-long stay.

I heard someone growl, and looked up. My father was glaring at Mort, but my mom had her jaw clenched, so I knew the growl was coming from her. I sighed and looked up at Mort, who gave me a smile of support. I smiled back and kissed him to thank him for what he was doing for me. As I pulled back, I noticed my mother reaching for me as though she were trying to pull me away from Mort. I quickly turned and glared at her before moving closer to my husband's side. His arm instinctively tightened around me and I hugged him back.

"Would you like to sit down and have something to drink, or would you like to see your room first?" Mort asked, trying to sound civil to them.

"I'd rather see my grandchild," Mom snapped, glaring at him.

Mort forced a smile. "Of course," he said, leading her towards Elizabeth's room.

I sighed as my parents followed him, and I in turn followed them. I could feel that this week was going to be the longest nightmare of my life.

* * *

_  
That night, Mort's POV_: 

Bedtime could not come fast enough for the two Raineys. As Mort pulled on his black satin-like pajamas, he watched Amber shimmy into a new floor-length red silk nightgown that he had bought her the day they had arrived in the city.

After he and Amber were dressed for bed, Mort turned her around so he could rub her back and calm her down. He could see the tension in her body slowly melt away as he gently massaged her shoulders. It had been an extremely stressful day for all of them, but more so for Amber. Mort felt that she was scared of her parents causing trouble or trying something get her away from him, and he was probably right. Still, with the guards outside the door, ready to keep the Rainey family safe from anything and everything, Mort felt safe and confident, and he was positive that Amber would never leave him. As he continued to rub Amber's shoulders and heard her sigh in bliss, he mentally went back over the events of that morning and afternoon…

The day had _dragged_ by for Mort as he heard Amber and her parents constantly arguing over whether or not Mort was a good man, whether he was a good husband, and whether or not he was insane. He knew that if her parents found out about Shooter killing and burying Ted and Amy, as well as committing the other two murders, there would be huge trouble for him and Amber, the kind of trouble that would tear everyone apart. If he had to, Mort would snatch up his family and get them out of the country to keep them safe from any sort of emotional and psychological harm that might come their way.

When they weren't arguing, Amber and her parents hovered over Elizabeth and passed her back and forth so that she 'knew' what her grandparents looked like. Amber had once commented (out of her parents' earshot) that Elizabeth would never want to see her grandmother ever again, after looking at her face so many times. Mort could heartily agree; Mrs. Olson's face was sharp, thin, and cold and her black eyes were hard. In other words, she was _not_ what one imagined a grandmother to look like…in fact, she reminded him of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, without the green makeup.

"I'm so glad they decided to stay in a hotel during their visit, instead of here," Amber sighed as he rubbed her neck. "I don't think I could survive them being here 24/7 for their entire visit."

Mort chuckled. "It helps that I offered to pay for the hotel bill, huh?"

Amber laughed, too. "I would say so!" she said, giggling as Mort gently tickled the back of her neck with a lock of her own hair. "My mother is so cheap she would have stayed in a city dump just to say that she saved money, and she'd say that the dump would provide free food for their stay!"

Mort threw back his head and laughed. "Really?" he asked, pulling his hands away from her neck now that she was fully relaxed and at ease. He couldn't imagine a woman being that cheap, even in his wildest dreams.

Amber nodded as she turned towards him, her nightgown wrapping around her legs as she pulled the covers around her. "Yeah, she was always like that whenever we went on vacations as kids," she whispered as she lay down. Mort set his glasses on the table and stretched out beside her, putting his face a few inches from hers so he could see her clearly. "She only wanted to have fun if it didn't cost too much, or if she approved of it. The restaurants we wanted to eat at were always 'too expensive' and we were sometimes forced to eat at cheap places that would eventually make us sick later. Needless to say, vacations were never very fun for us."

Mort pulled her into his arms. He felt Amber snuggle into them before quickly drifting off into sleep. When he heard her smooth breathing, his mind drifted to the two people staying in a hotel several blocks away. How could her mother be so terrible in such a way? God, no wonder the woman had practically jumped for joy when he had offered to pay for the hotel room! What kind of monster was she?

'_She's only here for a week_,' Mort thought, forcing himself to relax. '_After this, things will be back to normal and we can go back to the cabin by the lake_.'

Hopefully they'd all survive until then…

* * *

_  
Six days Later, Amber's POV_: 

The past week had been Hell, pure and simple. Mom wouldn't stop insulting me about the weight I had gained during my pregnancy, and Dad wouldn't stop calling Mort a kidnapper and a rapist behind his back. Despite everything, I had tried to be civil to both of them, for Mike, Elizabeth, and Mort's sakes. We had all gone to the favored tourist sites together, like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, etc, but it wasn't much fun. The fun tends to go out of sightseeing when your parents are glaring at your husband and badmouthing him while they're trying to stand so you two are separated from one another. When we got hungry on the tours, we ate together and made polite, vague comments about the sights we had seen throughout the day as we tried to be civil in public. At night, we all went our separate ways so I could recover from the day's excursions and emotional traumas.

Finally, the week was over, and my parents were leaving for the West Coast. For the last few hours of their stay, they had insisted on spending it with us at the loft so that they could "hold Elizabeth one last time" before they left. Yeah, right…I think they only wanted to try and convince me one last time to go home with them. They just couldn't accept that I was happy here with Mort, as far away from them as I could possible get. I was never as happy as I was now, and there was no way in Hell I was going to leave.

Before they left, we managed to work out a visiting schedule that would fit all of us. During the beginning of Mike's school summer vacation, my parents and Mike would come to visit us in New York City. After staying a week or so, my parents would leave, and Mike would stay with us for the entire summer. He'd then go home, and then Mom, Dad, and Mike would come visit us for Christmas, but leave before the huge New Year's Eve celebrations. The rest of the year, including Thanksgiving, Mort and I were left alone with Elizabeth. Mort and I readily agreed to this…after all, it was only twice a year, for two weeks at most, that my parents would be here…not long at all, if you _really_ try to _not_ think about it…

As my parents got into their cab to the airport, my dad turned and gave me one last pleading look that begged me to come home. I sighed and shook my head, tightening my grip on Elizabeth as Mort tightened his grip on me. My dad nodded as a sad look on his face as he closed the door and told the driver to go. I watched at their cab vanished around a corner, a huge weight suddenly lifting off my shoulders. It would be months before I had to see them again, and in the mean time, Mort and I could enjoy the quiet time alone with Elizabeth and my brother, before Mike had to go back home in a couple months.

We left for the cabin a few hours later, handing in the keys to the loft at the front desk so it could be cleaned and maintained while we were gone. We packed our suitcases into our car and Mort eagerly drove us home. This ride was much lighter than the one going towards the city; Mort was grinning like a maniac, and even Elizabeth seemed happier than usual. I smiled as Mort turned on the radio and sang along to the Oldies…I even joined in a few times, making faces at Lizzie as I did sang, causing her to laugh and smile as she kicked her feet and waved her arms at me.

Home had never looked so good…the cabin looked warm and inviting, and I could smell food being cooked as we pulled into the driveway. Mort took care of the bags while I carried Elizabeth inside, and my brother gave me a surprised look when I came into the kitchen. Mike smiled as I placed Elizabeth's carseat on the table and took her out of it so I could put her in the nursery. When I came back out, my brother and husband were hunched over plates full of stir-fried vegetables and chicken. I pulled up a chair and joined them, savoring the quiet moment as I took a bite of my food.

"So, how did it go?" Mike asked as he took another bite of chicken.

I smiled and glanced at Mort, who smiled back. I then turned towards my brother.

"Welcome to your new summer home, little brother!"

Mike jumped up and gave me a huge hug.

* * *

AN: Feedback and review appreciated (hint, hint)! Thanks! 


	4. The Passage of Time

Disclaimer: The talented Steven King owns **_Secret Window_** and all that goes with it.

AN: This chapter has a **rated** **R** scene (which is clearly labeled) so feel free to skip the marked part if it disturbs you.

**Chapter 4: The Passage of Time**:

_Amber's POV_:

You know the expression "times flies when you're having fun?" For us, time didn't fly…it went by in a _time warp_. When you're caring for a baby, helping your husband with his next set of stories or books, _and_ trying to keep your parents from ruining the lives of all you care about, time really seems to melt around you. I can't even believe it myself…

It's been six years since Mort took me from my home and brought me here to Tashmore Lake, and it has been the best six years of my life. Elizabeth is the most darling child, and at age 5, she is the most amazing little girl. Mort says she looks like me, but I have to remind him that _I'm_ not the one with blond hair in the family. Yes, Elizabeth has blond hair, but they're more like highlights than anything else; other than that, she's brunette through and through, with a touch of red in her hair from me. An odd combination, but that's what makes her unique I suppose.

And she's so smart, so very smart for a child of 5, but what would you expect from the child of two writers? We've read to her since she was six months old, and now that she's reading on her own, she's obsessed with the written word. In fact, Mort's having trouble finding books for her to read, so he's taken to writing stories for her to read (when he's not too busy, of course). And she _loves_ to paint…I told Mort that she might want to be a painter or an artist when she grows up, and he laughed, as though the idea were impossible. I rolled my eyes at him and kept my opinion of Lizzie's future to myself. Instead, I bought her paint sets, colored pencils, markers, and crayons of every imaginable color. As her mom, I think I'm entitled to spoil my little girl, aren't I?

Thanks to all of the visits to the cabin and getting away from our parents, Mike has been doing wonderfully. In fact, he's now living with us. Well, actually, he moved in four years ago, after he'd graduated from high school. He'd secretly packed up all of his clothes, shipped them out to us, and arrived on our front doorstep with a smile on his face, a suitcase in his hand, and a huge pile of boxes behind him. Mort and I had been angry at first, but Lizzie had been so excited to see her Uncle Mike that we decided to let him stay. Most of Mike's clothes are now stored in the guestroom of our New York City loft, and the rest were moved into the guestroom, which is now officially "_Mike's Room_." He was with us for a year before he applied to (and got accepted by) a very nice college in New York City. Now he spends a lot of time in the loft in the city and spends every single vacation here at the cabin, playing with Elizabeth and helping her with her "art projects." Sometimes he visits with his girlfriend, Kaitlyn, and we always have an amazing time together bonding as a family.

Of course, Mort and I have been busy, too. Mort publishes two books a year, and every time he does, there's an international tour of the world to promote it. Elizabeth and I had to skip the first few tours because I didn't want to take her on an airplane for a long amount of time, but when she turned 3, Mort and I took her on a tour of Europe to expose her to the cultures there. While we were touring Europe for the first time with her, Elizabeth had loved France so much that she actually began picking up the French language while we were there. We ended up hiring a French tutor for the remainder of the tour, and he had given me a list of books and video tapes for Elizabeth to read, watch, and learn from so that she'd always retain her learning. Sometimes we can't get her to stop speaking French, and had to pick it up just so we could understand her! Still, she speaks English as much as possible, especially when she knows Uncle Mike doesn't speak a word of French. After all, he would have a Hell of a time talking to her whenever he and Kaitlyn came over to visit us!

Anyway, back to Mort, who is now busy with another book that he claims was "inspired" by me. I always laugh every time he says that, but he always swears that it's true. Either way, it gets his mind going, and he only stops when he needs to be with me and Elizabeth (which is quite often). I can't figure out how he can write a whole book when he's spending so much time with us, but I suppose that's one of the perks of working at home, huh? Mort can mix work and family together and _still_ be amazingly productive. I don't know how he does it, but I'm thankful he does…

Personally, I think the greatest thing about our life is that we _all_ get to be together for huge amounts of time, especially when Mort has a world tour. In fact, Mort bought a couple of homes in Europe for us to visit whenever we need a "change in atmosphere." Even though we loved the cabin and keep it as our main home, we know that keeping Elizabeth isolated isn't good for her. After much discussion, we decided to take her to different places and have different tutors for her to learn from. Mort bought a cozy cottage in France so Elizabeth could use the language she'd been practicing, and so she could interact with others. We also had a small house in Italy that we visited in the winter, since New York got so much snow and I hate the cold. And, of course, we had our loft in New York to stay in whenever Elizabeth wanted to see her Uncle Mike when he was in school. My brother was always welcome to join us on our trips to Europe, and he (along with Kaitlyn) frequently spent his free time going with us on tour so he could 'experience the world.'

The only dark spot on our lives were the seasonal visits from my parents. To keep our joyful lives in the cabin separate from the terrors of my parents, Mort and I always arranged to spend the visits in our loft in New York so as to not have our cabin tainted by the horrors my parents inflicted upon us. As always, we had to keep two weeks open every summer and winter, because that's when my parents came. They _always_ arrived on schedule twice a year: at the beginning of _every_ summer and several days before _every_ Christmas. Each time they came, the visits got worse. Every night they were here, (and sometimes after they'd left for the West Coast), Mort, Elizabeth, and I spent time comforting each other, soothing emotional wounds and basking in the love of one another before going to sleep. If Mike was there with us during a visit, he would join us in our group hugs and help choose movies and junk food for us to consume and watch so we could forget our troubles until the next day. If Mike brought Kaitlyn over, she'd crack jokes and tell hilarious stories until we were all laughing so hard we cried.

And yet, despite my parents only staying for a week or so and Mort and I being civilized to them during their stay, I could _feel_ the tension in the air grow thicker with every visit. What was worse was that both of my parents had a special way of conveying their dislike and anger at people, mostly through glares, hurtful words, or whispered insults of a person behind their back. After my brother had moved in with us, he constantly got demands for him to return to the West Coast with my parents, but since he was over 18, he was legally an adult and could make his own choices. Sometimes Mike even brought Kaitlyn over while our parents were visiting, just to piss them off. It didn't help that my brother and I were both madly in love with people my parents despised, either. I obviously had Mort, but Mike's girlfriend was the _complete_ opposite of what my parents wanted for him…

Kaitlyn was the epitome of the perfect rock chick, which is probably what attracted my brother to her (he loved people who were different in society, even though he was what we call 'normal'). If there was one celebrity that could sum her up, it was Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence. She looked so much like Amy that at first I thought it _was_ her, but since we watched a live televised Evanescence concert the same time she visited, I quickly gave up that idea. She was short, about 5'2, and had the most amazing black-and-blonde dyed stripped hair which complimented her pale skin and dark blue eyes. Whenever she visited, Kaitlyn never failed to wear her blue jeans, Converse All-Stars, her black leather bracelet with spikes, and a **My Chemical Romance** t-shirt. Her dark eye makeup, black nails, and bellybutton ring _screamed_ Punk/Goth. Her sense of humor was fantastic, and she often brought her guitar to "rock out" with Elizabeth and to teach her some songs to sing and play. It was cute (yet odd) to see a rocker-chick teach a little girl cute music one minute, then play depressing rock songs the moment Elizabeth was out of the room. Oh, well, at least it exposed Lizzie to a musical instrument other than overturned pots and pans…

Today was a freezing cold December evening, was one of those get-togethers that we loved so much. Mike had brought Kaitlyn (and her black and silver guitar) to the cabin, and Elizabeth was begging for music. We were all curled up in our pajamas in front of the fireplace, drinking cider and eating warm snacks as Kaitlyn strummed her guitar, making the air relaxed and warm. My brother played a board game with Mort and Lizzie while I sat and toasted my feet in front of the fire, basking in the warmth of the moment. As the music from Kaitlyn's guitar faded, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, Amber?" asked Kaitlyn. "It's that time of year again…what are you going to do this year with…you know…"

I sighed and sat up. We all knew what "that time of year" meant: the visit of my parents. Somehow, these visits had inspired Mort and I to come up with some sort of 'distraction' for my mom and dad while they were here. Year after year, visit after visit, Mort and I wracked our brains (as well as my brother's and, eventually, Kaitlyn's) for some way to get my parents off of our backs and onto something else. We'd taken them to musical concerts in Carnegie Hall, seen plays on Broadway, gone ice skating in Rockefeller Center, and walked around every mall and major shopping store in New York City. Hell, we even took them to the Zoo a dozen times, claiming that Elizabeth wanted to see the elephants! This visit was going to be a puzzle, though.

"I really don't know, Lyn," I said, turning around to watch Elizabeth tackle Mort to the ground because he 'cheated.'

"How about I come over and play guitar for them?" Kaitlyn suggested, grinning evilly. "That'll get them going!"

I laughed so hard I thought my lungs would collapse. Kaitlyn's idea of playing for my parents was like amplifying the sound of thousands of nails on thousands of chalkboards. In two words: painful torture. Even though she played well for us, I knew that she'd do her damnedest to destroy my parents' eardrums while trying to drive them away. After all, she'd actually met them and had been chewed out enough times to want to smash their eardrums (or given the chance, their heads).

"So should I take that as a 'no'?" she asked, strumming her guitar again. "It'll be fun, I promise."

I shook my head. "Sorry, Lyn, but I like my eardrums the way they are: safely intact within my head," I said, rolling my eyes. "And I _really_ don't want Elizabeth to be deaf before her sixth birthday." _And I doubt that Mort would like it, either_…

Kaitlyn sighed. "Well, the least I could do was offer," she said, fiddling with the pegs of her instrument. "The offer still stands if you want it, Sis."

I chuckled at the nickname she gave me. She knew that Mike called me "_Sissy_" when he was really concerned about me or wanted to make fun of me, and she, in turn, picked up the nickname to use as a term of affection for me. I expected that she used it because I called her Lyn and wanted something special to call me so that we'd be even, but I wasn't sure. Either way, I didn't mind her using it…it was kind of nice having her use it. It was like I had a new sister.

"What offer are you talking about?" Mort's voice murmured in my ear as he joined us by the fireplace.

His arms scooped me up and put me in his lap, which was his favorite spot to have me whenever we sat by the fire. Mort always claimed it was because it was romantic, but I think it was because he wanted me to "keep him warm" on cold nights after Lizzie was asleep. I turned my head to look up at him and give him a quick kiss, but that 'quick kiss' turned into a mind-blowing, tongue-in-mouth affair that had Kaitlyn giggling, Mike sighing, and Lizzie making gagging noises.

"Mommy, Daddy, that's icky!" Elizabeth cried, covering her eyes to block out the view.

I pulled away from Mort's lips, laughing at the antics of our daughter as Mort pouted at having our kiss interrupted. I kissed him on the cheek to make it up to him and unwrapped his arms from around my waist so I could stand up. Mort pouted even more, but I winked at him to signal that we'd continue later and he instantly stopped. Instead, he leaned back on his elbows and smirked at me, subtly telling me that he was feeling particularly frisky tonight.

I rolled my eyes and picked Elizabeth up. "Okay, Mommy and Daddy have stopped with the icky kissing, so now it's time for little girls to go to bed," I said, rubbing my nose against hers.

Elizabeth pouted, looking very much like her father. "But I'm not tired," she whined, brown eyes begging me to let her stay up.

I shook my head. "Nope, it's after nine o'clock, so that means it is bedtime," I said, looking at her sternly. If we stayed downstairs any longer, Mort would eventually give in and let her stay up, and the last thing we needed was for her to be cranky tomorrow because we let her stay up past her bedtime. I let her kiss her Uncle Mike, her 'Auntie Lyn,' and her Daddy goodnight, and carried her upstairs.

I tucked Elizabeth into bed and kissed her before turning out the light. Before I closed the door, I realized that the room hadn't changed much since the day we had brought her home. The room still looked the same, with the same furniture, toy boxes, and painted designs on the wall. In fact, the only change made was that the crib was gone and a white-and-yellow bed was now in its place, and just standing in the far left corner of the room. It really was amazing how much time had passed, and how quickly my baby girl had grown.

I quickly, but quietly, headed downstairs to return to my previous place in Mort's lap. He once again wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my hair, placing discreet kisses on my neck and behind my ears in the process. I let my eyes roll back in my head and sighed. I loved these moments with him…he was so sweet and so gentle that it sometimes made me wonder how I could be so lucky as to have married a man like him. Amy had been a fool to cheat on him and let him go…

"So…" Mort murmured, still kissing my neck, "what were you two lovely ladies talking about earlier, hmm?" He kissed me right where my neck was the most sensitive, and all thoughts flew out of my head, along with the answers to his question. "Well? Aren't you going to answer me?"

"Hmmm…what?" I could barely even remember my _name_, much less what he had just asked me! I was too busy enjoying the blissful sensations flowing through my veins to pay much attention to what was going on.

"You and Kaitlyn were talking about something," Mort whispered as he began rubbing my stomach as he rubbed his nose against my neck. "What was it?"

"Oh, I…can't remember…" I trailed off, leaning back into him, encouraging him to continue.

Mort chuckled as kissed my neck, sending vibrating waves of sensation through my body. I sighed again and tilted my head back, wanting more, and he didn't deny me. We continued to make out in front of the fire for quite some time before I realized that we might have an audience. I turned my head to look around the room, but saw that Mike and Kaitlyn were no longer in the living room with us.

"They went to bed after Elizabeth did," Mort whispered into my ear. "Now it's time for us."

I sighed and allowed him to carry me upstairs. It had been so long since we'd…

* * *

_  
Amber's POV:** rated R**_: 

I felt the mattress sink as Mort lay me down on it, carefully slipping my nightgown off of my shoulders and down my legs. His warm hands caressed my thighs, and I smiled up at him as he stared at my body, his brown eyes dark and glazed with bliss. Discarding my nightgown on the floor, Mort smiled as he backed up and shut the door, bolting it shut with the new lock he'd just bought. The 'click' of the lock made it final, and Mort stalked forward, his eyes focused on me and my naked form. He quickly stripped himself as he approached, telling me how much he wanted me with the quickness of his motions. Oh, it had been so long since we'd had a private moment to ourselves!

I reached out to him and he eagerly granted my silent request, practically pouncing on me and pinning me to the bed. I heard a growl in his throat and smiled as his lips began to devour mine in a passionate, maddening kiss. His hands slid down and caressed my sides, pulling me close against his body as his lips left mine and trailed downwards to my breasts, where he left soft, hot kisses in his wake. Mort suddenly left my chest and kissed me again, telling me with his actions that he was as ready for me as I was for him. I smiled up at him and pressed my lips against his, lovingly teasing his mouth with mine as I rubbed his back with my palms. I felt him stiffen as I touched him and heard him groan…that was the signal…

A split second later, Mort was inside me, taking me passionately, but gently, rocking in a perfect rhythm that aroused us both and yet satisfied us at the same time. Quickly, his thrusts increased until he was practically melding me into the mattress, his groans quickly becoming grunts as the force of his thrusts increased. I felt myself growing closer to the end and knew that Mort was right there with me. Suddenly, it hit me, and I opened my mouth to scream, but was silenced by the hot lips of my husband. He swallowed my cries even as he opened his mouth to howl his own orgasm, his hips still thrusting against mine. As I collapsed under him, I felt his body completely empty his seed into me before he, too, collapsed onto the bed, and therefore, onto _me_. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling trying to catch my breath.

* * *

_  
(End rated **R** moment)_

I reached up and caressed Mort's back, sighing as he rubbed his face against my sweat-soaked hair and neck. I then felt his lips press against my shoulder, slowly working their way up to my neck where I knew he'd find my special 'sensitive area' to semi-arouse me enough to speak to. I sighed as he reached that spot and felt him give it a quick kiss as well as a lick to make me giggle and wake up a little. Once he was sure I was awake enough to talk to, Mort pulled pack and looked me in the eye, pure love and adoration filling them as he gazed at me. He reached up and caressed my face even as I pressed my hands against his strong chest, gently rubbing them in a rhythm I knew he liked. A few moments passed as we lay there, basking in the love of the other's presence before Mort spoke.

"So, what were you and Kaitlyn talking about earlier?" he whispered slid off of me, pulling the blanket up and over us to keep out the nightly chill and to cover our naked bodies.

I sighed and put my head on his warm chest. "We were talking about how we were going to distract my parents this year," I said, rubbing my hand across his skin. I smiled and looked up at him. "She wanted to play the guitar for them and impress them with her skills."

Mort snorted. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he whispered as he kissed my forehead. His voice sounded drowsy. "Though, I know the neighbors wouldn't like it if she did…I'm sure you remember what happened last time."

I nodded and listened to his heartbeat, letting it send me off to sleep.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

As he felt Amber drift off to sleep, Mort couldn't help but wonder how they could, in fact, distract her parents during this year's holiday visit. Over the past few years, Mort had learned to quickly hate the holiday, and knew that Amber hated it, too. Even though she always got fantastic gifts from her grandparents, Elizabeth hated the holiday as much as everyone else did. The holiday was always a nightmare for his beloved wife and child, as well as for his brother-in-law. Mort could only imagine what Christmas had been like at the Olson house before Amber had left, and knew that they couldn't have been happy. It was truly unfortunate that Mort had only spent _one_ quiet, blissful Christmas with Amber, but that had been while they were in Europe, and Christmas in the Mediterranean was hot and miserable for a pregnant woman from a temperate climate. Plus, they had been on the tour at the time, and didn't really count; they had been so busy that they had actually missed the holiday all together!

'_It's not fair_,' Mort thought, rubbing his hand along Amber's back so he could feel her soft skin. '_Amber deserves to have a happy holiday, but I can't give it to her, not while her parents are here_!'

Well, he could always ask Mike and Kaitlyn to distract them and take care of Elizabeth while he took Amber on a private getaway for a day…

'_Actually_,' Mort thought, an idea brewing in his head, '_that just might work_!'

Satisfied that he could come up with something within the next few weeks before Christmas, Mort quickly drifted off to sleep, the peaceful sound of his wife's breathing in his ears and on his chest.

* * *

_  
Third Person POV_: 

As quiet dreams filled the minds of those in the Rainey house, there were other minds that were not so quiet elsewhere. As the cabin's residents dreamed of warmth, love, and safety, others dreamed of anger and hate, of fear and revenge…

They say revenge is a dish best served cold…well, this dish had had six years to cool, and the day of reckoning was very close at hand.

* * *

  
AN: Okay, this is the last reposted chapter. That means the newest chapter, chapter 5, will be up as soon as I can edit it for content that is "against the rules," and who knows how long that'll be? Soon, I hope, but it will be up as soon as I can get it done! Love to ya all, and I'll see you soon! 


	5. The Unbelievable and the Unexpected

Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey or **_Secret Window_**, so suing is pointless.

AN: **Please see my bio page about how** **appearances by readers/reviewers are** **prohibited**. All characters that resemble real people (either in looks, names, behaviors, etc.) should be considered under a thing called **"coincidence."** If you want me to remove a character, or if you have a complaint about me or my story, _please send an e-mail to me personally_ and I will take care of it. Thank you. I'd also like to thank the reviewer for their support during this time. Enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 5: The Unbelievable and the Unexpected:**

_Amber's POV_:

Yes, it was finally that time of year again, time for the annual Christmas visit of my parents. We had actually given the twice-yearly event a name, _The Return of Two Evils_, because that's what it was. Eventually, Mort and I had given up on trying to be overly pleasant to them during their visit and just tried not to cause scenes wherever we went. As time passed, we imagined that the coming of my mother and father was a sort of trial of patience for us, and each time we tried to be somewhat decent to them, we felt like we were struggling to keep our patience and our sanity. Somehow, we succeeded, and made it to the next visit with our sanity intact.

As time wore on, we were extremely glad when Kaitlyn started coming with us to the visits, mostly because she took my parents' critiques of her like a big joke. She had actually _laughed_ when my mother insulted her clothes. After my mother's comment, Kaitlyn had told her that it was part of what made her unique, and if my mother didn't like it, she could just "shove it up her ass and live with it." My mother had been speechless for several moments, and _that's_ saying something! After my parents had returned home from that visit, I had bought Kaitlyn a whole jewelry box full of punk earrings as a token of my thanks. In return, Kaitlyn wrote a song for me that bashed my parents and made me laugh. She sang and played it for me after my parents had left to cheer me (and everyone else) up.

Well, as I was saying, it was that time of year again, and we were all prepared to go to our city loft for the visit. My parents would be arriving that evening, and we had agreed to meet them at the apartment so we could all go out for dinner immediately afterwards. Mort was dressed in all black while I was in a short red dress (because Mort thought I looked sexy in red). Mike wore black pants, black shoes, and a blue dress shirt. Kaitlyn was dressed normally in a short black dress and silvery shoes because I had insisted that we go somewhere fancy for dinner this time. She agreed to dress like I wanted her to, as long as she chose the jewelry she could wear, so she chose a skull-and-crossbones necklace and bracelet just so she could piss off my parents (which it would). Elizabeth had insisted that she dress like me, so she wore a cute miniature version of the dress I was wearing.

The drive was slightly stressed because of where we were heading, but we managed to lighten things up by singing along with the radio, or playing games like "I Spy" and counting cars from out of state. By the time we arrived, we were all tired from laughing and joking so much, but at least we were relaxed enough to get through the evening without any mishap…I hoped. I could only pray that nothing bad would happen during this dinner, but who was I kidding? Mixing my parents, Mort, and Kaitlyn in one room was like begging for disaster, but if Mike and I sat between our parents and our lovers, then things should be relatively calm, for a while at least. _Perhaps I should have included bodyguards to stand nearby while we ate_..._oh, well_…

We arrived at the loft with no trouble and spotted my mom and dad in front, waiting for us in the cold. I rolled my eyes. Couldn't they have waited inside the lobby? I mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was freezing outside and that the lobby was the preferable place to wait for someone! And winters in New York City were cold and miserable, so why would they wait outside for us? I sighed and got out of the car, the others doing the same. We all smiled and nodded politely to one another. My parents had obviously stopped by their hotel long enough to change before coming to meet us, because they were all dressed up for dinner. Mort hailed a cab for them and sent them ahead of us to the restaurant while we piled back into the car to follow them.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were quickly seated in a special area away from the public, mostly because Mort was well-known in New York and sometimes got mobbed by fans. We were seated in a spacious booth, my parents at one end, me, Elizabeth, and Mort in the middle, and Mike and Kaitlyn on the other end. Elizabeth was excited since this was her first dinner in a fancy 'grown-up' place, and tried to behave as she looked off of my menu (since some of it was French and she wanted to know what was in the food). We all ordered individual appetizers and nibbled on those while we waited for our entrees to arrive. Elizabeth took a bit off of each plate and asked questions that kept us all busy chattering. I was thankful for that because it kept everyone from making a scene.

Our dinners soon arrived, and we made polite comments about how good it was. Elizabeth had her own small plate of food, but she was constantly asking for a 'taste' from everyone's plate, so she was quickly full… that is, until the dessert tray was displayed to us. As Lizzie devoured a slice of strawberry cheesecake, we adults had our wine or coffee and made small talk. Everything was going well until Elizabeth asked what seemed like an innocent question that really wasn't.

"Mommy, how did you and Daddy meet?" she asked, looking up at me with big, innocent brown eyes.

We all went quiet. Mort and I knew that everyone, including Kaitlyn, had been told the truth about how we had met. My husband and I exchanged _looks_, knowing I had to answer Elizabeth before my parents could spew their own twisted version of my first meeting with Mort.

"Well, honey," I said softly as I took her into my lap, just like I did when I told her a bedtime story. "Mommy and Daddy met in a bookstore, far away from here, where Mommy used to live. Daddy wrote stories back then, just like he does now, and Mommy had gone with a friend to get Daddy's autograph." I smiled at my husband. "That was when Mommy met Daddy for the first time."

"And Daddy fell in love with Mommy the moment he met her," Mort said, reaching over and wrapping an arm around me. "He brought Mommy back here with him, and then we fell in love, got married, and had you." He leaned over and rubbed his nose against Elizabeth's, making her giggle. "And we lived happily ever after."

There was a snort from my father. "Yeah, right after you kidnapped and raped her," he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Dad!" I gasped. Elizabeth's eyes widened and I covered her ears as I turned and glared at him, telling him not to say another harsh word when my daughter could hear him. I turned back to Elizabeth. "Don't listen to him, sweetie, he's just upset and drunk. Mommy and Daddy love each other very much and are very happy together."

"Yeah, I'll bet you're happy as his kidnapped wife," my father said, taking another gulp of wine.

I heard Mort grind his teeth as I again covered Elizabeth's ears and murmured comforting words to her. Elizabeth wasn't ready to hear about the truth of my relationship with her daddy, and I had no intention of telling her the awful truth, no matter what happened. I'd tell her the honey-sweet, watered-down version of the story, and that would be enough. Mort and I loved each other, we were happy together, and that was all that mattered.

As I comforted Elizabeth, Mort stood up. Alarmed that he might do something drastic, I put my hand on his arm, hoping to calm him down. It didn't work; I could almost feel the hate and anger radiating off of him, and I knew that, from this point on, there was nothing I could do to stop him from speaking his mind to my parents. I put my hands even tighter over Elizabeth's ears so that she wouldn't hear what was going to be said next…I had a feeling that this could get ugly.

"Mr. Olson," Mort said, his hands gripping the table edge as he fought to keep his temper as he spoke. "Amber and I have been nothing but considerate to you and your wife while you are here in New York and in our home. Frankly, we treat you better than you deserve and give you honest answers when telling you about our love for one another. Not only that, but we allow you to see Elizabeth, which we have felt is your right as her grandparents. I believe it is time to take those rights away from you."

Mort's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, and I pulled Lizzie even closer to me so that she couldn't see her Daddy get angry. Mort had always kept his cool no matter what happened, but when it came down to the safety of me and our child, he could, and most likely _would_, lose his cool…like right now…

"For every single stay of yours, you have not only insulted me, but you have also insulted your own children, who are your own flesh and blood! You have even been rude to Kaitlyn, your son's girlfriend, who had had nothing to do with the conflict between the five of us. Not only that, but you have also caused serious damage to my daughter's emotional and mental health." Mort paused as he looked into the eyes of each of my parents. "I no longer want you anywhere near my family in any sort of way. If you ever come near us again, I'll have you arrested and removed from our presence. Is that understood?"

My father's eyes narrowed, as did my mother's. Not giving them time to answer, Mike and Kaitlyn got up and turned to leave the restaurant, Mort and I following close behind them. As we passed our server, Mort hurriedly paid him for the meal and we quickly got our coats so we could wait for the valet to get our car. Mort placed himself between the front door and me and Elizabeth, keeping an eye open for my parents. Elizabeth looked scared and confused, but I quietly promised to explain when we got home. She nodded, and put her thumb in her mouth, subtly telling me that she was tired and it would probably be best for me to wait until tomorrow to explain to her what had happened.

Our car finally arrived, and we all piled in. I was about to close the door when my parents came running out of the restaurant, frantic looks on their faces. _It had taken them all this time to come after us after we had walked out on them? Talk about a delayed reaction_! I shook my head and slammed the door shut just as my dad spotted us. I heard him call my name, but I ignored him, instead tending to my now drowsy daughter, who sat next to me. I heard Mort hit the gas and speed away before my parents could even get close to the car. As we sped around the corner, I felt myself smile with relief and joy at leaving my parents in the dust…it really had been a good night, after all.

* * *

_  
A Week Later: NYC: Amber's POV_: 

Telling a child that she can no longer see her grandparents should have been a traumatic event, but for us, it was nothing. Elizabeth was surprised at our news, but she quickly shrugged it off and went to play with her toys. But even though Elizabeth was calm about the whole thing, Mort and I braced ourselves for some sort of legal assault on our home from my parents.

The day after our dinner, Mort warned the front desk to not let anyone up to our apartment unless it was Mike, Kaitlyn, or expected visitors that we told them about; all others were to be turned away immediately. The days following that were the most stressful we had faced since the beginning of our marriage. When my parents still failed to show up and demand to see us, Mort told me they were up to something, something that could ruin our family and our lives. I believed him, even if Mike and Kaitlyn didn't; they were convinced that my parents had given up and gone home. I wasn't so sure about that…

A week after the disastrous dinner with my parents, a knock sounded at our door. I was playing dolls with Elizabeth when the knock came, and I looked up in surprise at Mort. He gave me an equally surprised and puzzled look. We hadn't been expecting company, and fully expected the people downstairs to keep away any unwanted company. Mort shrugged at me before going over to answer the door. I heard the door open and Mort saying some angry words before the sound of a dozen footsteps entered our home. I grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her close in case we were being robbed, praying that it wasn't that sort of situation. I was shocked when a mob of police officers and two young women in suits walked in, determined looks on their faces.

"Amber Rainey?" asked one of the women. She was short, about 5'1, with hazel eyes and brown hair. Combined with her black suit and skirt, her attitude practically _screamed_ attorney or lawyer. "My name is Heather Kapusta and this is my associate, Maria Perez. We are your parents' attorneys, and we have a warrant for the arrest of your husband." She held up an envelope.

The other woman nodded. She, too, wore a dark suit, high heeled shoes, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Her facial features were hard, borderline cruel, and her attitude also screamed _attorney_ or _lawyer_. Both women nodded to the police officers beside them and I was soon surrounded on all sides. Horrified at what was happening, I looked around and heard Mort scream my name as he was dragged out of the apartment. Just then, Elizabeth began crying, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Mommy, where are they taking Daddy?" she cried, her face buried in my neck.

"They're taking him to a place where he can't hurt anyone anymore, sweetheart," Miss Kapusta said, reaching out for Elizabeth's head.

I snatched my daughter out of her reach. "Don't touch my daughter!" I snarled at her. "Where is your warrant for arrest? I want to read it!"

Miss Kapusta looked surprised that I was so cold to her, but she handed over the warrant. Not daring to let go of Elizabeth, I took the paper and shook it open so I could see what my retarded parents had come up with. I was extremely shocked at what they had charged him with. Kidnapping, rape, and mental/emotional trauma and manipulation were the top charges, but I didn't need to read any more. My parents had done what they had threatened all those years ago…

They had taken me away from the one person in the world who loved me more than life itself.

* * *

_  
Hours later: Amber's POV_: 

I sat in my living room, holding my daughter as she slept. After what had happened earlier that day, neither one of us was willing to let the other out of our sight. I was thinking about making dinner when there was a light knock at the door. Elizabeth was startled awake and she clung to me like a lifesaver.

"Are the bad ladies and police back again, Mommy?" she whispered, her brown eyes wide with terror.

"If they are, I'm not letting them in, sweetie," I whispered back, kissing her on the top of her head. I slowly got up and peeked through the eyehole, letting out a sigh of relief at what I saw there. I opened the door and admit our visitors. Mike, Kaitlyn, and another girl I didn't recognize walked in.

"Hey, Sis, we heard what had happened," Kaitlyn said, slinging an arm around my neck and giving Lizzie a quick rub on the back. "Any word from Mort yet?"

I shook my head. "Nothing," I said, closing the door behind them and leading them into the living room. I sat in the loveseat and the other three sat on the couch. "I know that he's got the right to one phone call, but I hope that he's used it for a lawyer instead of calling me. He knows that's what I'd want him to do first. After he's got legal representation, he'll find a way to contact me and let me know he's alright."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "You sure are calm about this, Amber," he said. "If I were you, I'd be tearing this place apart or wringing our parents' necks by now."

I gave a weak chuckle. "Well, the last thing I want to do is be in prison for attacking Mom and Dad," I said, rubbing Elizabeth's back to sooth her back to sleep. "After all, who would take care of Lizzie?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "Well, as soon as I heard what had happened, I felt ready to sock your mom in the face and castrate your dad, but Becca here stopped me," she said, nodding towards her companion sitting at her side. I took a good look at her for the first time.

She was definitely the sort of person Lyn would like. Hair in colors of black, purple, bright blue, and what I assumed to be her natural brown were all…interestingly mixed on her head, tumbling around dark blue dreadlocks. She was slightly taller than my 5'3, she looked about 5'5, and glasses covered her crystal blue eyes. Black jeans and a black top with silver crystals sewn on it were complemented by a silver cross around her neck, and numerous rings on her fingers looked sort of punk, but were all tastefully done. I liked her already.

"Hi, I'm Becca," she said, holding out her hand.

I leaned forward and took it. "Amber," I replied. "And this is my daughter, Elizabeth." Lizzie raised her head (thumb in her mouth and all) and looked at the stranger. She took one look at the multicolored hair and giggled, pulling her hand out of her mouth and pointing at Becca's hair.

"Mommy, her hair is pretty!" she exclaimed, pointing. "Can I have blue hair, too?"

Everyone laughed. "Not until you're older, honey," I said. Besides, I wasn't sure if Mort would approve of it or not…

_Mort_…

Mike must have seen my depressed look because he came over and sat at my side. "Don't worry, Sissy, Mort will hire the best lawyer he can get and be out in no time at all," he said, holding my hands in his. "He's a clever guy, and everything will be alright in the end."

I gave a weak and teary laugh. "Isn't that what _I'm_ supposed to tell _you_?"

My brother shrugged. "Yeah, but this time I get to be the comforting person in the family," he joked.

"Oh, a sensitive guy," Becca said, smirking. "You got lucky with this one, Kaitlyn."

Lyn rolled her eyes. "Don't I know it," she said, shaking her head.

We all chuckled as Kaitlyn stood up and went to make dinner with Becca. Mike remained with me and Lizzie, and we all ate together as a group of family and friends. The only thing missing was Mort.

* * *

_  
Meanwhile, Mort's POV_: 

Putting his head down on the metal table, Mort couldn't believe that it had come down to this. He had been forcibly removed from his home, snatched away from his beloved Amber and his darling Elizabeth, and arrested under trumped up charges! How could Amber's parents have done this, and so quickly? Okay, so he had taken Amber away over six years ago, but didn't certain crimes expire after five years or so? If that was the case, then the Olsons had no right to have him arrested like this!

"Mort, you've gotta talk to me," his long-time friend and lawyer said, placing her hand on his arm. Well, Shannon McKnight was one of his lawyers. She and her cousin, Melanie Black, were both representing him, and for that Mort was extremely grateful.

"Shannon, I really don't know what to tell you besides the fact that I'm innocent," Mort said, raising his head to look into the black eyes of his friend and lawyer. Her dark brown hair was full of curls, but pulled into a practical ponytail with a few strands escaping, and her beige suite complimented her features perfectly.

"We know that, Mr. Rainey, otherwise we wouldn't be here talking with you," teased the other woman, Melanie. She quickly sobered. "But seriously, Mr. Rainey, why would these people bring up such charges against you?"

Mort sighed. He had to tell them the truth, for his family's sake, as well as his. If he was going to keep Amber and Elizabeth in his life, his lawyers had a right to know what they were defending him against, and why things were happening the way they were. So he told them, from the moment he had fallen in love with Amber through the kidnapping and the marriage (which he and Amber had both agreed to tell others that she had willingly signed the documents for). He told of Amber's pregnancy, the confrontations with her parents, Elizabeth's birth, and the 'deal' he had made with them. When he had finished, he looked up at his defense lawyers and could almost see their brains working.

"Well, there really is no reason for you to be here, Mort," Shannon said, glancing at her cousin. "If you and Amber are legally wed, and she is with you willingly, then the charges against you can't be brought against you. We should have you out of here in a day or two, no problem."

Melanie nodded. "It's likely that the Olsons' attorneys got a very friendly judge to sign your arrest warrant, Mr. Rainey," she said, putting her hands on the table. "There are people like that in the system, and certain judges can sometimes be played to sign things. Some judges are sympathetic towards someone, or if enough circumstantial evidence is brought in front of them, they'll sign anything." Caroline reached out and patted Mort's arm.

"We'll find another judge that isn't so easy to play on and get you out of here, Mort, don't worry," Shannon said, smiling at him. "We'll try and have you home with your family as soon as possible."

'_Not soon enough for me_,' Mort thought, Amber's beautiful face flashing in front of his eyes and Elizabeth's small voice ringing in his ears.

* * *

  
AN: Thanks for all of your support and reviews. Sorry if I sound bitter in the first author's notes, but can you blame me after what's happened? (_Sighs_) But anyway, I still thank everyone for their patience while I repost and edit everything. Love you all! 


	6. Trials

Disclaimer: I asked Santa for the rights to Mort Rainey and **_Secret Window_**, but it didn't happen, so I still don't own them…damn it.

AN: Okay, before this chapter gets started, I just thought I'd mention that I know _nothing_ of law, so please, _please_, don't review and complain about how wrong I am about this sort of thing, okay? This is a _fictional_ story, and I'm making things up as I go, or going off of remembered episodes of **_Law and Order_** (which I don't own), so please keep an open mind while reading this. Thanks, and enjoy!

**Chapter 6: Trials**:

_Amber's POV_:

Playing with Elizabeth, cleaning the apartment, and cooking for two to five people were some of the things that kept me sane while I waited for a message from Mort. He had been taken to prison three days ago, and no one had called or come to visit me to tell me what was going on! I missed my husband and was practically tearing my hair out when the phone rang. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen floor and had no way of answering it, so I had to let it ring while I cleaned myself up. I was drying my hands when I heard it stop ringing.

"Hello?" asked a small voice.

I froze. Could that have been Elizabeth answering the phone? No, she's never been allowed to do it, but she was the only other person in the apartment, so it had to be her. I dropped my towel and raced for the living room. Sure enough, there was Elizabeth, the phone up to her ear and a proud smile on her face. My jaw dropped and Elizabeth came over and offered the receiver.

"Here you go, Mommy," she said, beaming at me. "It's Daddy."

I sighed with relief and took the phone from her. "Mort, are you okay?" I asked, extremely concerned for my husband's health. "Why haven't you called me?"

I heard him sigh into the phone. "I'm sorry, baby, but my lawyers told me not to," he said. His voice was tired and strained. "They said that it wouldn't be a good idea, considering the kinds of charges against me."

"But are you okay?" I had to know how he was, since long separations were torture for us both.

"I'm as fine as can be expected, since I don't like being so far away from you," Mort whispered. I could hear the longing in his voice, the emptiness that separation always brought whenever we were apart for too long. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too," I said, smiling sadly. "Did you hear Lizzie answer the phone? I didn't know she could do that."

"I didn't either, sweetheart," Mort chuckled softly, though I could tell he was holding back tears. "She surprised me when she pulled that one off. I had to make sure I dialed the right number."

I felt a tug on my pants and looked down. Wide, innocent brown eyes looked up at me as tiny hands reached up, fingers wiggling in a signal to be picked up. A small pout puckered her mouth as Elizabeth begged for me to hold her. I bent down and carefully picked her up, tucking her firmly against one hip as I again turned my attention back to the phone.

"There's someone here who'd like to talk to you, Mort," I said before putting the phone against Elizabeth's ear.

"Daddy?" she asked, her voice quivering. "When are you coming home?"

I felt like crying. In her memory, Elizabeth had never been separated from her father for such a long period of time. The only time Mort and I had been apart was when he had been on tour during the first year of Elizabeth's life; after that, he had always been there and we had always been together. I put my ear against the phone so I could hear what he told her.

"Daddy will be home as soon as he can, sweetie," he said, sounding cheerful. "There are people that really need to talk to Daddy about some things, but as soon as they're done, I'll be home."

"Promise?" Elizabeth asked.

"I promise, sweetheart," Mort said. "Now let Daddy talk to Mommy real quick, huh?"

"Okay." Elizabeth gently pushed the phone away from her and towards me.

I kissed her forehead and pressed the device to my ear once more. "Mort, what's going on?"

"Amber, my lawyers are going to be coming to see you soon to let you know what's happening," he said, his voice extremely serious. "They'll ask you questions, and I want to you tell them everything."

I paled. "You mean you told them about us?" I asked. His silence was enough. "Alright, I'll tell them everything they need to know. And don't worry about us, Mort. Kaitlyn and Mike have been here to help with everything, so all I want you to do is focus on getting home as soon as possible."

"Okay, darling," Mort said. "I love you."

I smiled. "I love you, too, Mort."

* * *

_  
Two Days Later, Amber's POV_: 

Mort had been right to tell me about his lawyers knowing everything…well, everything _except_ the falseness of our marriage documents. They had come the day after Mort's call, and had asked questions and made comments about things that few people knew about Mort and I. Before leaving, they had managed to squeeze every detail they could out of me, even things I thought that I had forgotten. I was completely drained afterwards, but I had a bit of good news: Mort's arraignment would be this afternoon and I was able to attend with Elizabeth. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but Miss McKnight and Miss Black thought that it would be a good idea and might score sympathy points with the judge. Mike and Kaitlyn wanted to go, but I didn't know if it was allowed, so I told them to wait for us outside the courthouse. They demanded to wait outside the courtroom, and I reluctantly agreed. At least they would be there if the worst should happen…

Presently, Elizabeth and I were sitting on a hard bench in the second row with a representative from Mort's publishing company, keeping our eyes open for when Mort came in. I didn't know the order of the files, so I tried to keep Elizabeth quiet while we waited. Finally, Mort came in his hands cuffed behind his back, and his two lawyers, Miss McKnight and Miss Black following behind. Elizabeth tried to get his attention, but I told her that it would get Daddy in trouble if she did. Lizzie immediately quieted down, and we both listened to the list of charges.

"Docket number 4652739, people versus Morton Rainey, charges of Kidnapping, Rape, and Assault," announced a man before handing the file to the judge.

The judge took the file and looked between our lawyers and the prosecuting party, which was the State District Attorney and those two horrible women my parents hired, standing there in severe outfits of black skirts and suit tops, trying to imprison my husband. "Mr. Rainey, how do you plea?"

"Our client pleads not guilty, Your Honor," answered Miss McKnight.

"Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez, what do your clients seek?"

"We request remand, Your Honor," said Miss Kapusta, hazel eyes flashing coldly. "Mr. Rainey is a well-known author with access to a several large bank accounts, is well-connected to wealthy members of the writing community, and has several homes in Europe. These resources make him a very severe flight risk."

"Your Honor, Mr. Rainey is a well-respected member of the community with no criminal record," protested Miss McKnight. "He has a wife and a small child to care for," at this point she motioned towards me and Lizzie, "and is not about to put them at risk by fleeing the country."

"Mr. Rainey also has a brother-in-law in a NYC college that depends on him for financial security," continued Miss Black. "This includes his brother-in-law's school fees and access to two separate homes, one during the school term and the other for school vacation periods. Mr. Rainey also provides money for food for his brother-in-law, and is unwilling to put the young man in financial jeopardy by fleeing the country."

The judge seemed to ponder the three arguments for a few moments. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. A moment later, the judge seemed to make his decision.

"I'm inclined to agree with Miss Black and Miss McKnight," he said, folding his hands on top of the bench. "Bail is set at five hundred thousand dollars. Upon posting bail, Mr. Rainey is required to surrender his passport and wear an ankle tracking device so that the police will be able to monitor his movements at all times. Mr. Rainey, you are also to remain confined to your home for the duration of your trial. Should you be found innocent of your crime, the ankle device will be removed." He banged the gavel to signal the end of the arraignment.

I breathed a sigh of relief and gathered Elizabeth in my arms. The representative from Mort's publishing company paid his bail, and when the handcuffs were removed from Mort's wrists, he reached over to hug me, Lizzie squashed between our two bodies. I could feel his tears falling on my cheeks, and him murmuring words into my ears. When we pulled apart, two police officers led us out of the courtroom. Mike and Kaitlyn instantly rushed up to us and hugged Mort, quickly gathering all of us into a group hug. After we broke apart, the officers quickly led us out towards their car. Mort was put inside, but the rest of us had to take a cab back to the apartment.

As we rode home, we rode in a relieved silence, happy that we had won a small victory against my parents. But we all knew that even though we had won a small battle, we had yet to win the war.

* * *

_  
A Week Later, Amber's POV_: 

With Mort home, things went back to a state of semi-normalness. The tracking device had been strapped onto Mort's ankle and would let the police know the minute Mort left the apartment. Elizabeth was sad that she couldn't go outside to walk her father, but as long as she had her Daddy back, she didn't really care. It was a very good thing that Mort enjoyed being indoors so much, otherwise he might have lost his mind from being cooped up for such a large amount of time. And who knew how long this trial might be? Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to make the best of it.

The first night Mort was home, Becca and Kaitlyn cooked up a fantastic meal of prime rib, mashed red potatoes, and a chocolate cake for dessert. During the whole meal, Elizabeth leaned against her father's side and Mort held my hand. Afterwards, we all watched movies and had popcorn and soda. Mort held Elizabeth in his lap until she fell asleep, at which point he tucked her in. Once that was done, it was _my_ turn to sit in Mort's lap until the movie was over. Mike, Becca and Kaitlyn went home after one o'clock, and Mort practically threw me over his shoulder as he raced for the bedroom…I guess he really missed me…

For the rest of the week, things went back to the way they were before Mort's arrest. Mort would spend the day with Elizabeth until it was time for her nap, then write until he couldn't feel his fingers. After Elizabeth woke, the two would play games until dinner. We'd eat, watch TV, and then put a sleepy little girl to bed. After that, Mort and I would sit together on the couch, listening to music and holding one another until Mort would drag me to the bedroom for some very intense loving.

Needless to say, things were good, but Mort and I knew that the court trial loomed closer with each passing day. Every night, after we had made love, Mort would hold me tightly against him and I would softly whisper to him, telling him how much I loved him and what a wonderful husband and father he was. He would eventually fall asleep, and we would wake up the next day wrapped in an intense embrace, enjoying each other's company until Elizabeth came bounding into our room and bouncing on top of our bed. Then our day would begin all over again.

But it couldn't last forever, despite how much we desired it.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

As he worked on his latest writing creation, Mort could feel the inspiration leave him, little by little. His thoughts were too preoccupied by what could happen to his wife and daughter during this horrible time in their lives. Elizabeth was blissfully unaware that her beloved Daddy might be locked away, far away, from her for a very long time, but if worst came to worst, that's what would happen. He couldn't bear not being able to see his little girl for any amount of time, but the possibility of not seeing her for years scared him. What if he never got to see her grow up?

'_Amber will take good care of her_,' Mort thought to himself. '_She'll make sure that Elizabeth never forgets her Daddy, and that she knows how much he loves her._' Oh, yes, Amber would take care of everything, as would Mike and Kaitlyn. Maybe even that other girl, Becca…she's cut from the same good cloth as Kaitlyn, so she could be counted on, too…

_Oh, God, Amber_…

Of all the things he would miss most about his freedom, it was his wife…his beautiful, kind, loving wife…the one who loved him despite all that she knew about him and about his past. How could he survive not being able to touch her, to kiss her, to hold her? A sheet of clear plastic would stand between them during short and infrequent visits, and limited physical contact would be permitted whenever she was allowed to visit him. How could he bear that?

'_I **couldn't** bear it_,' Mort thought, groaning inwardly. '_I'd go mad within the first week, and then they'd really send me to the nut house to have me **'**recover**' **even further_'

It would be a nightmare come to life, one even worse than when Shooter had appeared in his life. If he were to go to prison, Mort was positive that he would never be able to recover from it. His wife and daughter were everything to him, and if he were to lose them, he might as well be dead. Mort knew that he had to win this, or everything would be lost. Plus, what if Amber's parents tried something while he was in prison? What if they tried to take Elizabeth away from them to raise as their own? He would never let that happen, and he'd do everything he could to keep it from happening.

'_I'll keep you safe if it's the last thing I do_,' Mort savagely thought, looking at a family portrait that he kept at this place and at the cabin in Tashmore Lake.

It was a wonderful family portrait. Amber had been adamant in having a picture taken every year, and Mort had grudgingly given into the request (even though he thought it was a good idea, too). From the photographer's position, Mort was on the left, Amber on the right, and Elizabeth seated on a raised seat in the middle. It was a Christmas portrait, so Mort had worn a deep red sweater and black shoes and slacks, Amber was in a black skirt and red top, and Elizabeth was in a red dress with gold lace and ruffles. A bow was in Elizabeth's hair, and she was absolutely precious. They were all smiling, and the photographer had said that he'd never seen such a happy family, or such a polite little girl. Mort smiled at the memory of that day. After their photo session, the photographer had given Elizabeth a small bag of candy for being "such a good little girl," and she had been hyper the whole ride home.

Mort sighed and turned his attention back towards his work. This book was going to be based on what was happening to him at present, and he had been working as much, and as quickly, as he could on it. Every detail was from real life, and Mort was determined to capture it all on paper in every way that he could. From the moment that he had been arrested up to now, it was all there. He'd recorded everything that had happened as though it were a diary, and was thinking of turning it into a story he'd make up in his head (based on real life, of course) as soon as he had a free chance.

'_If I ever have a chance to do it after this_,' Mort thought bitterly. '_If I stay free, I'll write it here, surrounded by my family, and if I go to prison, I'll definitely have the time to write it there_.'

Mort feverishly hoped that would never happen, but if worst came to worst, he still might be able to provide for his family, even from behind bars. The last thing that Mort wanted was for Amber to have to work herself to death to provide for Elizabeth. He knew that there was enough money in the bank to live on for a quite a few years, but after the trial, legal bills were sure to pile up, and then where would she be? No, Mort would do his best to keep Amber and Elizabeth comfortable and happy until he got out.

Sighing once more, Mort returned his attention to his laptop. Hopefully this story would have a happy ending.

* * *

_  
Amber's POV_: 

We had been together as a family for ten days before a call came in from our lawyers, informing us that the court date was two and a half weeks from now. The worst part was that I might have to testify at the trial, as would Mike and Kaitlyn. We would likely be asked questions that gave information against Mort, but we would be prepared; our lawyers would be going over every scenario they could with us to keep us from getting caught in a trap by the prosecution.

"I don't know about this, Amber," Mike said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

It was after dinner and we'd just gotten the call from our lawyers. Mike, Kaitlyn and Becca had come over for dinner and a movie, and Mort had just told them about what was going on with the legal procedures. Kaitlyn was fully ready to testify, but Mike was unsure about the whole thing. After all, these were our parents, and they had given us _life_. Of course, I'd rather have been born in any other life but this one, but my mom had actually been somewhat decent to my brother. While I was being constantly tormented, Mike was being treated fairly normally (except for whenever Mom decided that one kid wasn't enough to yell at and torment). This was why _I_ had no problem with going against our folks and Mike _did_.

"Look, bro, I know that you still care about Mom and Dad, but this is my life that hangs in the balance," I said, looking straight in the eye. "Mort and Elizabeth are my life, and if I lose Mort…"

Mike let out a huge breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know, sis, I know," he said.

I knew at that point that he'd do what he had to in order to help my husband. I stood up and hugged him tightly to know how much I appreciated what he was about to do. Mort patted him on the shoulder and Kaitlyn kissed him on the cheek. Elizabeth climbed into her uncle's lap, and we all enjoyed our peaceful night together.

As Mort and I got ready for bed, there was a sort of uneasiness in the air that I could feel as I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets up to my chest. As I settled down to sleep, I felt a strong arm slide around my waist, and I knew that something was troubling Mort. I turned around to look him in the eye and saw fear and concern reflected in his deep brown eyes. Reaching up, my hands caressed his face, slowly sliding down towards his chin and over his beard and mustache. His eyes closed as my fingers drifted towards his neck, moving down to his chest. Mort's breathing slowly eased, and I knew that he was relaxing under my fingertips. Whenever he was scared or upset, he asked me to touch him, claiming that my touch 'relaxed' him and made him happy.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my hands stopping on his chest. "What's wrong, Mort?"

Mort opened his eyes and looked at me, hard. His arms tightened around me as he pulled me close to him, his face buried in my hair. _Oh, dear, something must really be wrong if he needs me this badly_.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispered into my hair.

"You'll never lose me, Mort," I whispered back. "I will always be here for you, like you are for me and Elizabeth."

I heard him chuckle as he pulled back slightly so that his nose brushed my neck. Suddenly, he rubbed his beard against my neck, making me giggle. My giggles turned into laughter as Mort continued to tickle me with his facial hair. He continued to do that for several moments before stopping, my laughter turning into the occasional snicker.

"Your laughter makes me so happy," Mort whispered as he smiled down at me. "I love you so much, Amber. I don't know what I'll do if…"

I pressed my fingers to his lips. "Don't say it," I said, giving him a kiss. "Everything will turn out alright in the end…you wait and see."

As we drifted off to sleep, I could only hope that what I had promised wouldn't turn into a lie.

* * *

  
AN: I hope that this last part wasn't too mushy or anything, or that the chapter wasn't too boring. Reviews and comments are welcome (hint, hint)! 


	7. Torments of the Heart

Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey or **_Secret Window_**, so suing is pointless.

AN: I'd like to remind everyone that I know nothing about law, so please don't bite my head off if I have anything wrong. I'm working off of **_Law and Order_** episodes (I own nothing of theirs), but if anyone has a lawyer for a relative or knows something about law, feel free to e-mail me. Otherwise, enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 7: Torments of the Heart:**

_Amber's POV_:

The next ten days passed by in a fog. We adults were constantly going over the notes our lawyers left us, trying to prepare for every twist and turn that my parents' attorneys could throw at us. Of us all, only Elizabeth seemed to be unaffected by the impending storm her grandparents had brought down upon us. As Mort, Mike, Kaitlyn, and I poured over document after document, memorizing everything we could, our precious Lizzie played with her toys and crawled into our laps, trying (unconsciously) to ease our tension as best she could.

Three days before the trial, Shannon and Melanie (they insisted on being called by their first names, being Mort's friends and all) appeared at our door; the expressions on their faces hovered between absolute joy and utter worry. I was the one to open the door and give them a blank, blinking look as they stood there, grinning at me. Recovering from my surprise, I raised an eyebrow at them.

"Is there a reason that you two are smiling like idiots, or are you doing that to scare me?" I asked, eyeing the two women.

"We'll tell you, but we need you all here with us," Shannon said, her black eyes sparkling at me.

Melanie winked a blue-gray eye at me as she and her cousin entered our apartment. After putting Elizabeth down for a nap, we all gathered around the dinning room table to see what Mort's expensive lawyers had come up with this close to the trial. Mort sat on my left, holding my hand and squeezing it occasionally as he ran his thumb over my knuckles; it was a touching gesture to get us both to calm down and focus on whatever was going to be brought up.

"I have news, and it's both great and semi-bad news," Shannon said, glancing around the table. Her eyes met mine, Mort's, Mike's, and Kaitlyn's. "Which do you want first?"

"Bad," I instantly replied. _That way, the good will make up for the bad_…

"Well, the great news is what actually leads to the bad news, so the good will have to be first," Melanie said, folding her hands together.

Shannon nodded as she turned towards us. "Amber, the charges against your husband have been dismissed by the judge as unfounded," she said, smirking at me. "In other words, you're not going to prison, Mort."

"Well, technically that's not true, Shan," Melanie quickly said, snapping our shocked attention to her. "The charges have been dropped, but there are new ones brought about by the prosecution. These new charges are a mystery at the present time, but we have been invited to a private conference with your parents and their lawyers to see what has been brought up against you this time, Mort."

"So what, exactly, does that mean?" I asked, clutching Mort's hand. I couldn't lose him again so soon after the last time! Would these horrors never stop following us? Why couldn't we be left in peace as a family?

"It basically means that although the previous charges have been dismissed, your parents aren't giving up that easily," Mort growled, his hand gripping mine tightly in a possessive manner.

Shannon nodded. "That's why we're meeting them at the D.A.'s office tomorrow morning to see what they have to throw of us this time." She turned her businesslike black eyes towards us all. "Amber, you and Mort will be going with us, but no one else; court orders."

Mort's arm slipped around my shoulders, clutching me to him as I began shaking. He gave me a firm squeeze to give me strength and love.

"We'll be there."

* * *

_  
The Next Day, Amber's POV_: 

I could feel my heart turn cold as ice in my chest as Mort and I entered the small conference room of the State District Attorney's office. My parents were already there, their lawyers apparently fully armed and ready to take us on. They didn't know Shannon and Melanie, though…our two crackshot lawyers were also prepared to take on Hell itself to keep our family together.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rainey, please sit down," asked the D.A. "My name is Clint Rockwell, and I will be a sort of mediator for this conference." He was a tall black man, middle aged, with a round body and a semi-jolly face…not the sort of person one expected a lawyer to look like.

"We're here to discuss new charges brought against your client, Miss McKnight and Miss Black," Mr. Rockwell continued. "Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez, would you care to inform them of these new charges?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Rockwell," stated Miss Kapusta. "These new charges are similar to the previous charges, but are primarily stemmed from the psychological nature. Mr. and Mrs. Olson believe that Mr. Rainey is a mentally disturbed man who took their daughter, forcefully, and has mentally and emotionally convinced her that he loves her and she him. Her parents assure us that Amber has been an emotionally unstable woman since her teens, and that they have had some difficulty with her. They merely seek getting their daughter and granddaughter home with them as soon as humanly possible for psychological treatment, and for Mr. Rainey to pay for his crime of mental and emotional trauma on Amber and her family."

Miss Perez took up the conversation. "The background is simple: Mr. Rainey, a lonely writer, recently suffering from the divorce and loss of his wife, and living alone in the woods with no outside contact." She turned to focus on Mort. "On his latest book tour, he spots Amber, sees how vulnerable she is, and abducts her. He then forced her into marriage and did all he could to convince her to fall in love with him. We have various examples of cult leaders using the same techniques when persuading people to join their cause. The fact that she has borne him a child, especially after taking her on a tour of Europe during her pregnancy, only adds to the mental reinforcement of the idea that he loves her."

"Or it could be that he truly loves her and wanted to take his wife on a romantic tour of Europe," Shannon snapped. "Mr. Rainey did suffer from the scars of his separation from his first wife, Amy, but has found happiness in his marriage to Amber. There is no proof whatsoever of any sort of manipulation on Mr. Rainey's part."

"This makes all of the charges mere speculation," Melanie put in, frowning. "It takes a great deal of time to manipulate a person's mind, and Amber had only been with Mr. Rainey for a short amount of time before they married, willingly. The signatures have been verified by handwriting analysts as valid. Also, over the past six years, Amber has had numerous opportunities to seek numerous kinds of help, be it psychological or otherwise. She has also had many chances to escape with her daughter and yet did not do so, proving that she _is_ truly in love with Mr. Rainey and is happy with him."

Mr. Rockwell nodded. "I feel very inclined to agree with Miss Black and Miss McKnight," he said. "However, I would like Mr. and Mrs. Rainey to submit to psychological evaluations. You will use a psychologist of the State, and the results will be admitted to a private trial, which has been granted by a court judge." He looked around the table. "And I expect _everyone_ to be there." He stood up. "I'm afraid I have another case to deal with in court. If you'll excuse me."

He left, closing the door behind him with a soft '_click_.' As soon as he was out of hearing range of the room, I whipped my head around to glare at my parents, who were looking both smug and worried. I, on the other hand, felt as though the world had been turned upside down and shaken, like a snowglobe. The fact that my parents' lawyers had come remarkably close in recreating the circumstances under which Mort and I had first met scared the crap out of me. And now Mort and I had to go see a psychiatrist to prove that we were both sane! I really didn't know how much more of this I could take…

"How _dare_ you do this to me?" I hissed at them. "How dare the two of you ruin my life like this! I'm finally happy with my life, and you want to take it all away from me!" I stood up, Mort standing with me.

"Amber-" my father said.

"Shut up," I snapped. He did. "Come on, Mort. We're leaving."

The four of us left the conference room, despite hearing my parents call out for me to come back. If I had gone back into the conference room, I would have strangled them for what they were doing to me and to my family. I was going to do everything I could to keep Mort out of jail, and to keep our family together. I was not going to let my peaceful, love-filled life be taken away or destroyed in any way, and I'd die before I let my parents lay a hand on my daughter!

Needless to say, the ride home was eerily silent as the four of us were lost in our own thoughts.

* * *

_  
The Next Day, Mort's POV_: 

The previous night had been tense in the apartment after they had returned from the meeting. Amber did her best to appear happy, but Mort could tell that the meeting with her parents had seriously disturbed his wife. As the three of them had dinner together (alone, for the first time in months), Mort could tell that Amber was doing all she could to keep from either exploding in rage, or turning into a living river of tears. He swore that he would help Amber with her troubles before the night was over.

After Elizabeth was in bed, Mort watched his beautiful, beloved wife slip into a new white-lace nightgown that he'd ordered via the Internet and presented to her a few days ago. As she slipped under the covers, Mort grabbed her and pulled her on top of him, smirking when he heard her squeal with surprise.

"Mort, what's gotten into you?" she giggled, looking down at him.

Mort smiled softly up at her. "I wanted to talk, and that was quickest way to get your attention."

Amber's eyes softened as she reached down and caressed his face. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"I want to know what's bothering you," he whispered, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

Amber sighed. "I'm just scared that my parents will win and that they'll take you away from me," she said, looking down at him, fearful tears in her eyes. "I don't think I could bear it."

Mort tightened his grip on her, pulling her fully down on his chest and into a hug. "They'll never win," he whispered to her, her head resting on his chest. "We'll pass the psychology tests and make it through the trial, no matter what happens. We'll always be together, and we'll always be a family."

Amber sighed, nuzzling her face against his neck. "I hope you're right, for Lizzie's sake."

"I know I am," Mort murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Now go to sleep."

She snorted. "On top of you? I'd crush you! I _told_ you I needed to lose that pregnancy weight."

Mort growled as he pulled her head up to look at him. "You do and I'll force-feed you until you gain it all back," he semi-mock threatened. "I told you that I like women with curves, and that I love how sexy you are with them."

A smirk suddenly spread on her face. "Prove it," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his lips.

His hands clutched her tighter. "Oh, believe me," he said, rolling over so that he was now on top of her, "I will."

* * *

_  
Amber's POV_: 

I was nervous as hell about the psychiatrist visit I had to make in a few days. After all, the last thing I wanted was for them to find out the truth about Mort's life before we met. And let's not forget about the abduction and the events after it! I felt as though my heart were going a million miles an hour, and like the world was against me. I'd never been happy before I'd met Mort, and now that life was perfect, someone wanted to take it all away from me…was there no sense of fairness in the universe? I'd waited my whole life to be a wife and loving mother, and now that I was, it was all in jeopardy because my parents were possessive idiots.

"Mommy?" Elizabeth called, interrupting my thoughts. "Someone on the phone for you!"

Well_, that_ caught my attention.

"Lizzie, what are you doing answering the phone?" I gasped, racing to grab it before the caller heard something they shouldn't. I took the receiver from her and pushed her towards her father's study. "Go play with Daddy for a little bit while Mommy talks on the phone."

"But Daddy's working," Elizabeth protested weakly. She loved playing with her daddy and always tried to find a chance to do so, but didn't like bothering him while he was writing.

"He needs to take a rest, so go distract him," I said, smiling and winking at her. She eagerly nodded and I turned my full attention to the phone. "Hello?"

"Amber, it's Mel."

"Melanie, what's wrong?" I asked, worried. Shannon and Melanie never called unless it was bad news. "What's happened?"

"Amber, your parents' lawyers just called me with what they called a "_deal_," but what I call a threat," Melanie said, her voice angry. "They say that if they lose this trial and if you don't come home with them, they'll sue Mort for emotional trauma after being deprived of their visitation rights with Elizabeth and you." There was a small pause. "They also say that if you don't come back to them willingly, they'll sue for custody of Elizabeth."

I went cold. _They'd take Lizzie away from me just to get back at Mort_? They'd sue for _money_ if they lost the trial? Did they really think that money mattered to us? They could have it all if they wanted, as long as they left us alone! I felt like I was going to burst into tears at any second.

"Amber, are you there? I asked if you wanted to settle this outside of court," Melanie's voice came through the receiver. "Or if you had any other ideas about what we could do for the trial."

Shaking my head to clear it, I turned my attention back to the phone. I had to take care of this.

"Um, how about witnesses that we could call up to the stand?" I asked. "You know, to testify on our behalf, to tell how happy we are and everything. Do we have any of those?"

"We do, but they're mostly writers, and they seem to be incommunicado," Melanie said. "Seems that winter is the perfect time of year to hole up somewhere and write a book, so we can count those people out. Others are either promoting on the road and won't be free until it's too late, and some are even in Europe."

"So it's hopeless," I said, my shoulders slumping.

"No, not exactly," Melanie said. "I'll think of something, Amber, don't worry. Shannon and I are going to work our asses off to save you and Mort. We'll take care of it, I promise." She hung up.

I stood there, holding the receiver, listening to the hollow sound of the dial tone and thinking of how to make sense of the situation. So our writer friends were out of contact, busy, or both. What did that leave us with? Nothing, that's what. With no witnesses to talk about how content Mort and I were, we didn't have much to go on, and if that psychiatrist decided to bad-mouth us on the stand, the happy life that I knew and cherished would be over. Mort would be locked up either in jail or the mental hospital, I'd probably be locked up with him or treated for some sort of mental disease, and who knows what would happen to Lizzie?

'_Knowing how my parents are working, my precious baby-girl would end up with them_,' I thought, horrified. '_Mike doesn't have a job, he's too busy going to school, and Kaitlyn is only his girlfriend and not related to us in any way. Elizabeth will be taken to the other side of the country and I'll never see her again. Oh, God, what are we going to do_?'

"Amber?" called a voice, forcing me out of my thoughts. It was Mort.

"In the living room," I answered back, turning off the phone and returning it to its proper place. "Mort, I need to talk to you."

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

"_Sue_! They're threatening to _sue_ us?" Mort couldn't believe it. Well, perhaps he could; after all, these _were_ his in-laws. But sue them for money? Where did they get that idea?

"It gets worse," Amber said, covering his hands with hers. "It's possible that, if worst comes to worst, they'll sue for custody of Elizabeth."

Silence filled the room, and Mort felt ready to kill something…or some_one_. No, he couldn't have those thoughts; he was a good man, Amber always told him so. Still, he couldn't bear to lose his daughter to his wife's parents. That could not, and _would not_, happen, not ever. They would beat her parents and keep their family together, no matter what.

"Mort, are you okay?"

He looked up. Amber's velvet, doe-brown eyes were focused on him, and they were filled with worry and fear...fear for their family, fear for their daughter, and, of course, fear for him.

Mort forced a small smile and squeezed his wife's hands. "I'm okay," he whispered. "What else did Melanie tell you?"

His wife sighed. "She said that there aren't any witnesses to testify on our behalf," she said, her voice soft. "All of our writer friends are either on tour somewhere and can't make it back in time, or are in isolation, working on their latest book. We have nothing to help us, Mort."

He could hear the tears preparing to fall, and instantly got up to sit next to her, his arms finding their way around his wife's body. As she leaned into him, Mort felt her tears moisten his shirt and could feel her shoulders shake as she silently cried against him. If there was one thing in the world that Mort Rainey couldn't stand, it was to see he wife cry. It always broke his heart and made him want to turn the world upside-down to make things alright again. But this time, he didn't know how to do that.

"Mommy?" called Elizabeth's small voice.

They both looked up to see their tiny girl standing in front of the table, her thumb in her mouth. Amber forced a smile on her face and opened her arms towards the little girl, who eagerly raced forward and jumped into her mother's lap.

"What's wrong, Mommy? Why are you crying?"

Amber kissed Elizabeth's forehead. "I'm okay, darling," she cooed. "Mommy's just had a bad day."

Elizabeth nodded her understanding and snuggled down for a nap in her mother's lap. Meanwhile, Mort watched the scene quietly, staring in wonder at how lucky he was to have such a beautiful family. His in-laws could not win. That was it. Losing this case was not an option. If he had to do something drastic, then so be it, but he was not going to lose his family; no matter what.

* * *

  
AN: Oh, is Mort's up to something? Guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out! Oh, and sorry if the chapter is too depressing or anything. Review and tell me what you think, please! 


	8. Visits of the Mind

Disclaimer: I _wish_ I owned Mort, cause then I could bounce ideas (and other things) off of him…

AN: Not much to comment on for this chapter, besides to beg for reviews. I wish that I had the same amount that I'd had before my story was removed, but what are you gonna do? Well, besides beg…but anyway, someone asked about Bubbles, Amber's cat: this chapter has the answer! Enjoy!

**Chapter 8: Visits of the Mind**:

_Amber's POV_:

A week after my little 'emotional breakdown' at home, we received a phone call from the D.A.'s office, telling us that the court psychiatrist had us scheduled for a visit the next day, and were required to attend the session. We would be evaluated separately, not together…I guess they wanted to see how 'crazy' we were on our own. Mort looked pale at the idea of having to face some of his inner demons, but there was nothing we could do about it. The good part about it was that Mort's ankle device wouldn't go off after he left the apartment. It would still track him, but that was it.

On the day of the mental evaluations, Becca and Kaitlyn came over to babysit Elizabeth. Both girls had brought new toys and videos to amuse her with, and right before we left, I saw Becca muttering something to Mort before handing him a small envelope. On the elevator ride down, I asked Mort what she's given him, but he only smirked at me and kissed my cheek, subtly telling me that he was up to something romantic. Lord knows that I'd need it after today!

The ride to the psychiatrist's office was silent, but it was a comfortable, though somewhat tense, silence. As we stepped into the waiting area, we saw a woman in a brown suit outfit, her red hair pulled up in a bun at the top of her head. Her green eyes were kind, and her smile reassuring. I felt somewhat at ease, but I could feel Mort tense up next to me, his hand grabbing mine in a deathgrip. I gently squeezed back, telling him it was okay, and his hand slowly released mine.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rainey?" asked the woman. "I'm Dr. Crawford. I'd like to speak to you first, Mr. Rainey, if you would just follow me."

Mort leaned over and kissed my cheek before turning to leave me alone in the white, sterile waiting room.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

"So how are you today, Mr. Rainey," asked Dr. Crawford. "Feeling alright?"

"As fine as I can, considering that I might be going to jail for something I didn't do," Mort muttered, taking a seat on the couch as the doctor took a sofa-chair next to him.

"Well, these are serious charges, Mr. Rainey," she replied, taking out a pen and a clipboard from the side of the chair. "Besides, I'm only here to determine your mental health, not to proclaim you innocent or guilty."

Mort snorted, knowing full well that her testimony could free or imprison him. "Well, let's get this started, okay? I have a wife waiting, and a daughter who needs to see her father sometime today."

Dr. Crawford nodded. "Alright," she said, posing her pen over the clipboard. "Let's start with how you felt after you found your first wife cheating on you."

Mort swallowed hard, the memories flooding back to him. "I was obviously hurt, of course. Married for ten years, only to find her screwing another guy? Who wouldn't feel angry and hurt?"

"What about when she and her lover disappeared? How did you feel then?"

Mort closed his eyes. "I suppose you could say I was relieved, because she was out of my life and that she would stop coming around or calling me. It hurt when she called, because Ted always seemed to pop up in our conversations, so I just unplugged the phone so I couldn't talk to her anymore."

"Plus her disappearance seemed to free you from her, from your marriage," Dr. Crawford stated. "With her out of the way, you were free from the tortures she put on you."

"Yes." It was a simple answer, but it was the truth. With Amy and Ted gone, Mort _had_ been free to live his life without them hanging over his head, over his life. And Amber had helped free his heart.

"People seem to think that, since she's been gone so long, that she's dead. You must also believe that, since you were still technically married to Amy when you took Amber."

Mort swallowed around the lump in his throat. "I figured that Amy must be dead, because she always tried to contact me about one thing or another," he said, rubbing his forehead. "I think, if things had gone differently, Amy and I might have been friends after the divorce, since we got along alright." _In most cases, anyway_…

"So with Amy 'dead,' you were free to marry again," Dr. Crawford said, scribbling. "Did you kill Amy?"

Mort's head snapped up. "No! I would never hurt Amy! I loved her, I'd never hurt someone I love!" _It was Shooter who killed them…never him…Amber helped him see that_…_he was a good man_…

"Calm down, Mr. Rainey, it's a standard question," she soothed. "So you didn't kill Amy or Ted. Assuming they're still alive somewhere, and Amy turned up to reclaim you marriage, would you take her back?"

He looked at her intensely. "No," he said flatly. "I love Amber and the life that we've made together. I'd sign the divorce papers without a second thought."

Dr. Crawford nodded. "So back to when Amy disappeared," she said. "After Ted and Amy vanished, what was life like?"

"I was alone," Mort said, staring out into space, flashing back to that time in his life. "I had no one. Amy was gone, my dog had died, and I was banned from town…I was alone with no one but myself."

"Until the book tour that you were told to go on," the doctor put in. "The tour on which you met Amber, am I right? Tell me about when you first met Amber."

Beautiful golden warmth filled his heart. "She was there with a friend of hers," Mort softly replied. "Her friend had dragged her there to get my autograph, and I saw her. Amber had gone off while her friend got my signature, and her friend pointed her out to me." A happy sigh escaped his lips. "I saw the back of her, but that was all it took. I was in love with a woman I'd never met before, and it was amazing."

"So it was love at first sight for you, but not for her," she said. "So you took her?"

"I had to," Mort said softly, his voice turning somewhat desperate. "I had to let her see that we were meant to be together, and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Now that I look back on it, I know I should have tried to do the normal thing and date her, but things turned out for the best." He looked up. "We're happy together, and we have a beautiful daughter. Life is perfect for us."

"And what if Amber said that she wasn't happy and wanted to leave?"

Mort looked the doctor straight in the eye. "That would never happen. She'd never leave me. She loves me." He looked at his wedding band. "We complete one another."

* * *

_  
Amber's POV_: 

Mort was in there for at least half an hour, and I was beginning to get restless. Finally, the door opened and Mort emerged, looking like Hell. I rushed up to him and hugged him, trying to give him the comfort he needed. I whispered my love for him into his ears and could feel him relax against me, his arms coming up to hold me in return. A cough from the other side of the room drew our attention.

"Mrs. Rainey, would you please come with me?"

Mort and I released each other, and I followed her into the office and took a seat on the couch. The warmth still lingering on the leather told me that this had to have been where Mort had sat during his session. After we both got comfortable, Dr. Crawford gave me a smile.

"Your husband seems very much in love with you, Mrs. Rainey," she said. "I'd like to know how you feel about him."

I smiled back at her. "I love him as much as he loves me," I said, leaning to the side so I could rest against the arm of the sofa.

"And why do you love him?" the doctor asked, her pen scribbling notes on the paper. "After all, he took you from your home and your family. Shouldn't you hate him for what he's done to you?"

I thought about it for a minute. "I never hated him," I said. "I was angry, upset, and scared by what he'd done, but who wouldn't be after being taken like that? But I never, ever, hated him." It was the truth; I had never hated Mort, only been frightened by and for him…hate was never an issue…

"Never?" asked Dr. Crawford. "Even when he forced you to signing the marriage documents, the ones that were pushed through the system by his friends? Didn't you hate him then?"

I shook my head. "No, though it shocked the hell out of me," I said, remembering how I had cried my eyes out the day I'd found out about our marriage. "However, spending time with him and talking about things, I saw what a good, kind man he was, and I couldn't hate him for that. He was lonely."

"So you felt pity for him, and stayed married to him for that reason?"

"At first, but after we talked and got to know each other, I realized what a wonderful man he was and still is," I said, smiling fondly at the memory. "He even bought me a kitten because I loved them so much. It was a spontaneous gift, and one of the greatest I've ever gotten."

"You _had_ a cat? Where is it now?"

I looked at her. "We couldn't care for Bubbles, the cat, and Elizabeth at the same time, so we gave her to my brother. She's in his dorm, I believe."

The doctor nodded and looked at her notes. "If my calculations are correct, you must have conceived your daughter a short time after your abduction by your husband. Surely you couldn't have consented to sex with him in such a short amount of time." She leaned forward. "Did he rape you, Amber?"

I looked her directly in the eye. "I was forced at first, but I willingly gave in," I said. "That first night with him was frightening at first, but…I think that I was more scared about losing my virginity to him than anything else. A little while into it, I relaxed and let it happen."

She scribbled more notes into her book. "Were you angry that a child came into your life during this time?" Dr. Crawford asked. "What I mean is this: you were an abducted woman forced into a marriage with a stranger. Surely you would have been upset with that and with a baby on the way."

I shook my head. "Considering the same things happen in foreign countries, I can't really complain, now, can I? If I really didn't want my baby, I could have taken some drugs to rid myself of it. But I've wanted to be a mother since I was a teenager, and I wanted to give birth and look into my baby's eyes as I held it." I smiled fondly at the memory of my daughter's birth. "Mort and I had a baby because we truly loved each other and wanted to be happy with one another and with our baby."

She scanned over her notes very quickly. "What was life like before you married Mr. Rainey?"

I felt the blood drain out of my face, and could feel my heart practically stop in my chest. That question I hadn't expected, but perhaps I should have. If I told the truth, I would be free of the pain I had kept for so long, free from a pain that only few knew of. Would it help us during the trial? Well, it didn't matter. It was time for the past to come out…after all, I deserved to be free, didn't I?

* * *

_  
An Hour Later: Mort's POV_: 

Amber had been in there at least twice as long as he had, and Mort was beginning to worry. He sincerely hoped that she wasn't telling things that she shouldn't, but there was nothing he could do. He didn't even know what they were talking about, and if he went in there, ranting about something that they didn't understand or know about, Dr. Crawford really _would_ think him insane. No, he'd have to wait for Amber to finish her session and tell him what had gone on in there. After she came out, he had something special planned for that afternoon…

Finally, the door opened and a rather relaxed Amber came out, her face calm and peaceful. It was almost like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Mort could feel fear grip him. What if Amber had said something she shouldn't have? No, then she'd look worried and scared out of her wits. She must have said something that eased her mind and soul, but what could it have been? Concerned, Mort got out of his seat and practically ran to his wife's side, taking her face in his hands.

"Amber, are you alright?" he whispered, ignoring the psychiatrist behind her.

His wife gave him a relieved smile. "I'm fine," she assured him. "I just got a huge emotional burden lifted off of me, that's all." She turned towards Dr. Crawford. "Thank you for listening to my past, doctor. I feel much more liberated now."

The red-headed doctor smiled. "That's what I'm here for, Mrs. Rainey," she said. "Though, I might have to charge the D.A.'s office extra for the long amount of time we spent together."

Amber laughed. "It was worth it, though, and you deserve it," she said, reaching out to shake the other woman's hand. "Thank you."

Dr. Crawford nodded and went back into her office, shutting the door behind her. Meanwhile, Mort put his arm around his wife's waist and led her outside to their car. As they pulled away from the curb, Mort's curiosity couldn't be held back any more.

"What did you talk to her about?" he blurt out, trying to divide his attention between traffic and his wife's words.

Amber chuckled. "Don't worry, Mort. I only told her about how much of a nightmare my life was with my parents," she said, reaching over to put her hand over his shoulder. "It felt good to tell someone whose job it is to help others with their internal wounds."

Mort sighed in relief. "I know I should be hurt that you feel better after talking to her about it than talking to me, but I'm not," he said. "She is a professional, and I guess she must really know her work if she works for the State D.A."

He could feel Amber smile. "I'm glad that you aren't mad, Mort," she said. "I felt better after talking to you, but I think that I really needed to talk to a professional about my life with my parents. It really did make me feel better about me and my life."

Mort felt the hand on his shoulder move down to slowly rub his leg. "Darling, if you don't stop that, I'm going to do something very inappropriate to you in the front seat of this car," he warned huskily.

Amber giggled, and Mort swallowed, hard, as her hand drifted up his leg. He tried his hardest to focus on the road, but with Amber's warm hand rubbing his inner thigh, it was rather difficult.

"Come on, sweetheart, don't do that," he gasped, trying not to swerve as he drove.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," she said, laughing as she removed her hand.

Mort swallowed and tried to get his bearings as he turned his attention back towards driving. He was extremely glad that Amber had managed to get all of that emotional trauma from her past off of her chest. He knew about how horribly she had been raised, and tried to do everything he could to make her life happier. After Elizabeth was born, she feared turning into her mother, feared that she'd mentally and emotionally scar their daughter as much as she had been as a child. Even though she'd never admit it, Mort knew that Amber always thought about how she was raising Elizabeth, going over her actions and comparing them to the acts her mother had taken, all of those years ago.

"You know, if seeing a shrink like her makes you this happy and turned on, I'll schedule a decade of appointments for you," Mort said, smirking over at her.

Amber laughed. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said, cocking an eyebrow at him and giving him a flirtatious look.

Mort gave a teasing growl. "Dang straight," he said, smiling.

She laughed again before shaking her head and turning to look out the window. "Mort, where are we going? The apartment's the other way!"

A playful smile graced his face. "I've got a surprise for you," he said. "And it's not at the apartment."

"So where, exactly, are we going?" Amber asked, peering at him. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that little secretive chat you and Becca had before we left, does it?"

"It might," he said, not looking at her as he pulled up to a valet station in front of a hotel. "Now let's get out so we can go eat."

Amber looked up and gaped. "Ruth's Chris Steakhouse?" she gasped. "Mort, this place is so expensive! We can't eat here!"

Mort grinned at his wife's expression. "Becca gave me a gift card for this place," he explained as he handed their car over to the valet. "She said that if I was any sort of husband, I'd take you out to a great place like this after the day we've had." He smirked. "I happen to agree with her."

Amber rolled her eyes. "I'll bet you do," she muttered, but the smile on her face contradicted her words. "Let's go eat, hmm?"

Still smirking at his wife, Mort offered her his arm and escorted her inside, where they were shown to a secluded table in a dark corner. The food here was legendary, and Mort had every intention of enjoying this meal with his wife. They ordered several dishes (with the intention of taking some home to Elizabeth), and shared a chocolate sundae, which Mort insisted they feed to one another. It was a fairly romantic lunch, probably the most romantic they'd had since their trip to Europe.

The drive home was quiet, but calm and relaxed. Mort felt Amber's hand on his thigh again, but knew it was meant to be comforting, not seductive. A sense of peace filled the vehicle, and Mort couldn't remember a time where things had been so wonderful with just the two of them together. A light dusting of snow began falling, and Amber sighed.

"I love falling snow," she whispered. "It never snowed out at my old house."

Mort chuckled. "You mean you love snow as long as you don't have to go outside in it," he teased.

Amber slapped him on the arm and laughed. The rest of the ride was spent joking with one another, teasing each other occasionally as the snow fell around their car. When they opened the door of the apartment, a small bundle of energy flew at them, colliding with their legs and almost knocking them over.

"Mommy, Daddy, you're back!" quipped Elizabeth, a hyperactive tone to her voice.

Amber raised an eyebrow. "Did Auntie Lyn and Aunt Becca give you sugar, precious?" she asked as she scooped up their daughter.

Elizabeth nodded. "I had ice cream!" she said, smiling.

Amber shook her head as she carried Elizabeth to her room. Mort stood in the hallway of their apartment and chuckled. Kaitlyn and Becca peeked into the hall and winked at him, grinning. Mort gave them a smile in return and mouthed two heartfelt words to them.

_Thank you_.

* * *

AN: Aw, cute moment at the end! You've got to love those. Please leave a review and let me know how this chapter went, because reviews rock my world! The more reviews I get, the faster I write! 


	9. The Real Trials Begin

Disclaimer: If I owned **_Secret Window_** or Mort Rainey, I'd be very rich and very happy!

AN: This sounds selfish, but I'd be eternally grateful if the reviews of this story reached 50 or more, because that's what it would have been before this story was removed. Plus, reviews make me write faster (hint, hint) so I urge you to tell me what you think of this story before it's over. Enjoy!

**Chapter 9: The Real Trials Begin**

_Amber's POV_:

It was finally here, the trial that was going to decide the fate of our family. I felt sick to my stomach as I dressed in the proper attire for the occasion. Mort was looking spiffy in a black suit and tie, so I decided to dress in a long-sleeved white blouse with ruffles at the neck, and a black skirt. A broach with a black crystal oval surrounded by small diamonds was pinned at the top of the ruffles at my neck, and small black buttons were at the ends of my sleeves. Chic and professional at the same time, and very appropriate for the day.

As I tried to pin my hair up in a practical bun, Mort grabbed my hands and took them away from my head. As soon as my fingers were no longer near my head, Mort magically produced a curling iron and began to curl my normally straight hair. I didn't even know he knew how to do hair! Hearing my small surprised squeak, Mort smiled and winked at me via his reflection in the mirror. I sighed and let him do what he wanted to my hair, praying that he wouldn't kill or burn my precious locks. When he was finished, I had wavy hair, the ends curling inwards. I was impressed and smiled.

"Now you look enchantingly professional," Mort whispered, bending forward to press a kiss to my neck. "More enchanting, though, than professional; I'd better keep my eyes on the men in the court so that they don't put the moves on you."

I laughed and slapped his arm as I got up to get Lizzie dressed. I put her in a green dress with white lace, white stockings, and adorable black shoes. Even though I thought she belonged at home, Becca had offered to look after her in the courtroom, so I reluctantly agreed to let her go. Speaking of Becca, the punk-rock girl was in our living room, her hair pulled back into a severe bun, but with her multi-colored hair, it looked more _interesting_ than it would if it were one color. Her dark blue suit went perfectly with her hair, though the combination was somewhat comically professional. Elizabeth loved it.

The ride to the courthouse was quiet, though Mort and I held hands throughout the entire ride. I knew we were both worried about what could happen in the days ahead, and we both hoped that we would win. Even though we had no idea what might happen today, or who would be testifying, I knew that my parents would use every bit of money in their possession to get witnesses to speak on their behalf. Becca, Elizabeth and I sat in the audience as Mort sat up with Shannon and Melanie. After everyone (including the jury) had taken their places, we all stood when the judge, the honorable Judge Karen Clark, took her place. As the prosecuting lawyers called their first witness, I paled when I saw who approached the stand to be sworn in. My parents had called in one of my friends from home.

Miss Kapusta smirked as she approached the witness. "Would you state your name, please?"

"My name is Jennifer Wright," the tall red-head said, her hazel eyes focusing on the attorney.

"And you were a close friend of Ms. Amber Olson, correct?"

"Yes, I was."

"When did you first meet Amber, and how long have you two been friends?"

"We met in the fourth grade, so that would be about twenty years now," Jen answered, smiling a little.

"So you would know Amber fairly well, is that correct?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

Miss Kapusta positioned herself directly in front of my former friend. "How would you describe Amber, _before_ she disappeared?"

"Well," Jen said, looking at me briefly. "She was a really sweet person, and she was always nice to people. She was smart and fun to hang out with. Amber also liked to help others, and she always got a kick out of playing at the local senior center with the high school band."

"Did Amber ever have a boyfriend?" asked Miss Kapusta. "Any sort of relationship with a man that you knew of?"

"No, not really," Jen replied, looking a bit uneasy. "The rest of us went out on dates and talked about it, but Amber never spoke of any boyfriend. I don't think she's ever had one."

"So were you surprised when you were called upon to testify in a trial against her husband? Surprised that Amber had married at all?"

"Well, yes." Hazel eyes looked over at Mort. "She was never really popular with the guys at home, so you could say that I was extremely surprised to hear that she'd actually gotten married."

"Thank you, Ms. Wright." Miss Kapusta walked away and Shannon went up to the stand.

"Ms. Wright, you and Amber went to the same college after high school, am I right?"

"Yes."

"And did you see her at all on campus? Talk to her, or go out clubbing with her, after classes were over?"

Miss Kapusta stood up. "Objection! Relevance, Your Honor?"

"Your Honor, I am trying to establish the credibility of the friendship between Ms. Wright and Mrs. Rainey," Shannon stated.

"Overruled," said Judge Clark. "Answer the question, please."

"No, we didn't see each other much after high school," Jen replied, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I ran into her a couple times, but we didn't hang out or anything."

"So this friendship of yours somewhat faded after the two of you graduated high school." Shannon remarked. Jen remained silent. "When was the last time you actually saw and spoke with Amber, Ms. Wright?"

"Over seven years ago," Jen softly replied.

"So you hadn't seen or heard from Amber a year before she married and had a child," Shannon said, looking at the jury. "It seems like you don't know your friend as much as you thought, Miss Wright." She turned and looked at the judge. "No further questions, Your Honor."

As Jen left the stand, she gave me a somewhat jealous look before her eyes flicked over to look at my very handsome husband and my darling little girl. I resisted the urge to smirk. My parents had unwittingly called in a dud of a witness. Truth be told, Jen and I had drifted apart even before high school graduation. She'd started hanging out with the drama class and believed herself to be "above" me and the friends she'd left behind. In college, she hung out with people at least ten to twenty years older than her and often avoided me. Needless to say, this was a major mistake on my parents' behalf.

"Any other witnesses, Miss Kapusta?" the judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," the prosecution said. "We'd like to call Dr. Crawford up to the stand."

_Crap_. Hopefully this won't turn out to be bad for us. I held my breath and grabbed Mort's hand as the psychologist took the stand. She took the oath and sat down, a neutral look on her face. Would this woman ruin our family? I prayed not as my parents' other lawyer, Miss Perez, approached the stand.

"Dr. Crawford, you have recently had a psychological evaluation of Mr. and Mrs. Rainey, is that correct?" she asked, pacing back and forth.

"Yes, that's right."

"And from your brief examination of them, how would you describe Mr. Rainey's mental health?"

Dr. Crawford's calm exterior didn't change. "I would say that, besides being a bit lonely, Mr. Rainey is in fairly good mental health."

Miss Perez's eyebrows raised up an inch. "Fairly good health, you say?" she asked, obviously disbelieving of the doctor's words. "So it's normal for a man to kidnap a defenseless woman and rape her?"

"Objection! Miss Perez is bringing up unlawful and false accusations not related to the charges in question!" protested Shannon.

"Agreed," Judge Clark replied. "The jury will disregard the question. Move on Miss Perez."

The dark-eyed woman frowned in thought for a moment. "If Mr. Rainey is in such good mental health, why did he kidnap the woman then known as Amber Olson?"

"In my opinion, it was nothing but an act made by a desperately lonely man," Dr. Crawford replied, crossing her legs and folding her hands on top of them. "After his separation with his first wife, Mr. Rainey lived in isolation for well over a year, and had very little human contact. The book tour he took at the time allowed him to get out of the house and meet some people, and he eventually fell in love with Amber."

"But Mr. Rainey is a writer, and used to being isolated from people for long periods of time," Miss Perez commented. "Why would this be different, considering that he had a story to work on?"

"This isolation was primarily started in the event of his separation from his first wife, Amy," Dr. Crawford said, still not losing her cool. "The experience left him hurt and alone, so he retreated into his own world, one which was established inside his cabin. This sort of isolation was not brought on by his usual need to feed a writer's creativity, but to try and heal from an emotional trauma in life."

"I see," Miss Perez commented. "And I suppose being excluded from the Tashmore Lake community because of being accused of his first wife's murder might have helped that isolation?"

"Objection!" cried Melanie as she stood up.

"Miss Perez, if you don't stop this at once, I'll hold you in contempt!" Judge Clark snapped as she glared at my parents' lawyer. "The jury will disregard the last question!"

"I apologize, Your Honor," the dark-haired woman said. "Let me rephrase that last part. So this emotional isolation, combined with being expelled from the local town, brought almost an emotional breakdown for Mr. Rainey?"

"I didn't say that," Dr. Crawford said, frowning a tiny bit. "Mr. Rainey was not close to any sort of breakdown. He was simply lonely, and the book tour did him some good."

"And what about his sudden emotional attachment to Amber? Wouldn't you call that a sudden transfer of emotional feelings, of sorts?"

"No, not at all," the psychiatrist replied. "He met Amber at the end of the tour, not the beginning, so that would not qualify as a sudden emotional transfer to someone who could be a potential replacement wife for Amy. If he had met her at the very start of the tour and if she looked like Amy in any way, that would be the case. But Amber looks nothing like Amy, so there was no transfer of any kind."

The persecution did not look happy with that answer. "No further questions, Your Honor," Miss Perez said.

Melanie stood up and approached the psychiatrist. "Dr. Crawford, how would you describe the feelings Mr. Rainey has for his wife?"

"I would say that Mr. Rainey has very deep emotional feelings and attachments for his wife." The doctor smiled a little, and I swore I saw her look over at me and Elizabeth.

"Would you say that Mrs. Rainey has the same feelings for her husband?"

"Absolutely," answered Dr. Crawford. "Most doctors never see such a loving couple, and I feel privileged to have met and talked with them."

"Thank you." Melanie sat down, but Miss Perez stood up.

"Redirect, Your Honor," she demanded. The judge nodded and the lawyer again took her place in front of the stand. "You say that you 'talked' with them, and that Mrs. Rainey has the same feelings for her husband."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Do you know of the condition known as Stockholm Syndrome?"

"Yes, of course I do," Dr. Crawford slowly replied.

"Could you describe the condition to us, please?"

"It's when a person taken prisoner, be it male or female, falls in love with his or her captor," Dr. Crawford slowly replied.

"Interesting…and since the present Mrs. Rainey was held under her husband's influence for such a long period of time, is it possible that she might be suffering from this condition?" Miss Perez was looking extremely smug.

"I really couldn't say," Dr. Crawford replied. "Stockholm Syndrome doesn't always affect people who are taken prisoner, so it is hard to say if Mrs. Rainey suffers from this condition. Countless people over the centuries have been taken prisoner and it is safe to say that not all of them have fallen in love with those who have captured them."

Miss Perez frowned. "Thank you, Doctor," she said before returning to her seat.

"Miss McKnight, Miss Black, do you have any more questions for the witness?" asked Judge Clark.

Shannon stood up. "Not at this time, Your Honor," she replied.

"Then the court will recess until tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m.," the judge remarked. She tapped the gavel and the day was over.

I let out a relieved breath and turned to look at my daughter. Elizabeth, who had been amazingly quiet during the whole thing, looked at me, a huge amount of questions in her eyes. I smiled at her and opened my arms to her. She immediately leapt into my arms, snuggling her face into my breast, her arms wrapping themselves around my neck. I could tell she was worried about Mort, so I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down and cheer her up.

"It's alright, sweetheart," I whispered to her. Elizabeth looked up at me, her brown eyes misty with tears. "What do you say we go home and have some ice cream, hmm?"

"With cherries on top?" asked Lizzie, her expression turning hopeful.

"Absolutely," Mort replied, rubbing Elizabeth's back. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

_  
An Hour Later: Mort's POV_: 

After everyone had satisfied their sweet tooth, Mort tucked Elizabeth down for a nap while Becca, Kaitlyn, and Mike helped to clean up the dishes and the mess that Elizabeth had made while eating her ice cream. He had just tucked the blanket up to his daughter's chin when she decided to speak.

"Daddy, are you going to jail?" she asked, tears swelling up in her wide eyes.

Mort froze and tried to remain calm so as not cry in front of his little girl. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain to you, sweetie," he softly replied, his fingers running through Lizzie's long, wavy brown hair. "You see, Grandpa and Grandma want Mommy and you to go live with them, but Mommy said no. They think that if Daddy goes to jail, Mommy will go with them and take you with her."

Elizabeth set her chin stubbornly. "I don't wanna go live with Grandpa and Grandma," she said. "I wanna stay with you and Mommy, and Uncle Mike and Auntie Lyn." She paused for a moment. "And Aunt Becca, too!" she added.

Mort sighed. "I know you do, honey, but that all depends on whether the judge decides to let Daddy stay free or not," he said, running a finger over her forehead, combing a stray lock of hair out of her face. "But I promise that Mommy and I will do everything we can to keep us all together, okay?" Elizabeth nodded. "Good, now go to sleep. When you wake up, we'll have dinner and watch **_Sleeping Beauty_**. How does that sound?"

Elizabeth blinked sleepily at him. "Okay, Daddy," she whispered as her eyes drifted shut.

Once sure that she was asleep, Mort stood up and closed the door behind him. Walking into the living room, he saw that his wife was alone and that the others had left. They were probably making sure that, if worse came to worse, the Raineys should have as much time together as possible. As he took a seat on the couch, he saw Amber going through the family picture album.

"What are you looking at?" he whispered, wrapping an arm around her.

She didn't even jump in surprise. "Oh, just looking at photos of when Lizzie was a baby."

"Why?" he asked, puzzled as to why she was doing such a thing.

Amber sighed and leaned against his shoulder. "No reason," she said, looking at a picture of Mort holding a year-old Elizabeth, bouncing her on his knee as the baby laughed at him.

Mort grabbed the album from her and closed it, placing it out of her reach. He knew that she was tormenting herself by engraving their family moments into her brain, preparing for the dark future where he went to prison and had to miss out on their daughter's future. The last thing he wanted was for her to lose hope during this time in their life.

"Don't do this, sweetness," he said, forcing her to look at him. "Don't hurt yourself like this."

"But I can't help it!" she softly cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, Mort, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take! Why can't they leave us alone? Why can't we just be happy?"

Mort automatically pulled her into a tight embrace as she cried, stroking her back and her hair, giving her all of the comfort he could. The truth was, even he didn't know how much he could take of this nightmare. So, to keep himself together, he held his beloved wife close to his chest and to his heart until she fell asleep. Once sure she was asleep, he moved so that he was on his back and she lay on his chest, her head over his heart, which was her favorite place sleep when he held her.

With both ladies (i.e.: his wife and daughter) asleep, Mort let his mind roam at will. How could they get out of this? At present, they were winning, but how long could that go on? They had no one on their side that could testify on their behalf. Mike was Amber's younger brother and people would say that he could be "easily impressed upon" by his sister. Kaitlyn was his girlfriend, and would be on his "side," as would Becca, who was Kaitlyn's friend and would only know about things second- or third-hand. Still, there had to be someone out there who would be able to help them…there had to be someone who would help put things to right.

'_Because everything depends on it_,' Mort thought as he, too, drifted into dreams.

* * *

AN: I hope the courtroom stuff was convincing. Let me know if it lacked anything or if it sucked! 


	10. Life's Trials Continue

Disclaimer: I asked for the rights to Mort Rainey, but it didn't happen, so I still don't own him…damn it.

AN: I know that people are begging for violent vengeance to be brought upon Amber's parents, but I already have something planned for them, so don't worry; just read the story and see what happens next. And for those who don't understand the prosecution's tactic, that's explained in this chapter. Enjoy!

**Chapter 10: Life's Trials Continue**:

_That Same Night: Amber's POV_:

I was definitely not looking forward to this afternoon. Last night had been another family night where we had ordered pizza (with extra mushrooms for Elizabeth's), and watched Walt Disney's **_Sleeping Beauty_**, which was a personal favorite of Elizabeth's and mine. Elizabeth loved watching the fairies fly with their tiny wings, blessing the baby with gifts, and always laughed when the dress changed colors. It was wonderful to see her so happy, and it made us happy, too.

After letting Elizabeth burn off her excess energy, I tucked her in and kissed her goodnight. She gave me a sweet, happy smile as her eyes drifted shut. I softly whispered a story to her so that she'd have pleasant dreams, and when I thought she was asleep, I kissed her forehead. As I began to close the door behind me, I heard her call out to me.

"I love you, Mommy."

I smiled. "I love you, too, precious," I whispered back to her. I heard her mumble something as I closed the door behind me before heading down the hallway towards the master bedroom.

I'd just finished pulling the nightgown over my head when I felt Mort's hands on my hips, underneath the nightgown. I couldn't stop myself from blushing.

"Was there something you wanted, Mort?" I teased, not turning to look at him as I tried to pull my nightgown down around his hands.

"Actually, yes, there _is_ something I'd like," he muttered as he pressed his lips against my neck.

I giggled and turned around, putting my arms around his neck. "And what if I decide not to let you have it?" I whispered, smirking at him.

He growled. "Then I'll just have to take it."

I shivered as he swept me up and tossed me onto the bed.

* * *

_  
The Next Day: Amber's POV: _

We were once again dressed somberly and professionally for the trial. Shannon and Melanie were oddly cheerful as they met us in front of the courthouse, and I gave Mort a concerned look - after all, the last thing we needed was for our lawyers to get overconfident when the trial wasn't even half over! Mort simply shook his head and shrugged. Elizabeth clung to my hand, and Becca stood behind her, twisting a lock of blue hair around her fingers. I sighed and we all headed inside.

Once in the courtroom, Elizabeth, Becca and I took our usual place in front, by Mort and our lawyer-friends. After everyone had taken their places, Mort looked back at me and smiled assuredly, trying to cheer me up. I smiled back at him and Lizzie gave him a small wave. Then Judge Clark entered the room, and the second day of the trial began as Miss Kapusta stood up to call her first witness of the day.

"Your Honor, the prosecution calls Mrs. Redding to the stand."

I was extremely confused. Why would my parents call up an old teacher of mine from high school? It didn't make any sense! Mrs. Redding was always very kind to me during high school, and had helped me to discover that I had writing potential. How was this going to help my parents win the case? I watched as my former teacher was sworn in and took her seat at the stand.

"Mrs. Redding, you taught Amber while she was in high school, is that correct?" asked Miss Kapusta.

"Yes, that's right," replied the elderly woman who had inspired me to become a writer.

"Could you describe the type of student Amber was at that time?"

Mrs. Redding smiled. "Oh, Amber was a good student, and had great potential for becoming a writer. At the time, she wanted to become a reporter for a magazine or newspaper, but she really didn't have the attitude for that line of work, so I persuaded her to apply her talents elsewhere."

Miss Kapusta positioned herself in front of the stand, her arms crossed upon her breast. "Could you describe what sort of attitude Amber did have?"

"She was very sweet and hardworking, but very quiet…very secluded," Mrs. Redding answered, her kind, wrinkled features looking thoughtful. "She did alright, but she didn't exactly interact very well with others. When she was in our newspaper class, she was alone most of the time. I think that she was rather unpopular with the other students because the others only worked with her when they had to edit each other's articles."

"So you could say that she was a loner," Miss Kapusta asked.

"Well, no, she didn't have the loner attitude," Mrs. Redding said. "I'd say that she was, well, an outcast."

"As in, no one liked her or wanted to be friends with her?"

"That's right."

I could feel tears swell up in my eyes. Mrs. Redding was right; I had been an outcast, but it was rather by choice. I didn't want to belong to any of the clubs that did nothing but raise money to go on field trips that didn't teach you anything. I was poor at sports, band class eventually drove me nuts with the idiots who didn't care how badly they played, and I didn't want to join any of the debate teams, cheerleading squads or dance teams. But that was the way I was, and I couldn't change that. I watched as Miss Kapusta sat down and Melanie stood up.

"So according to you, Amber was socially isolated from others," Melanie said. "Are you any sort of psychiatrist, Mrs. Redding?"

My former teacher looked puzzled. "No, I'm not."

"Then we should take your word that Amber was 'different' and not socially normal," Melanie asked, turning to look at the jury.

Mrs. Redding looked offended. "I have been a teacher for over thirty years, and I know what I'm talking about when it comes to teenagers. Amber was an isolated individual and not interactive with those of her own age. Teens like that can become mentally unhealthy adults."

Melanie raised an eyebrow in what appeared to be doubt. "But isn't it true that some people prefer to be alone in life?" she asked. "Some people just don't like being in large groups of people, or can't tolerate others for unknown reasons." She smiled. "After all, writers of all sorts do that sort of thing all the time. And you did say that Amber had the abilities of an author, did you not?"

"I did, and I suppose that's true, but-"

"So it would be safe to say that Amber could have _chosen_ to be alone, as most authors do, because she had the mentality and behavior of an author. Isn't that right?" Melanie interrupted her.

Mrs. Redding went quiet. Melanie smirked.

"No further questions, Your Honor," she said, returning to her seat.

"The court will take a short twenty minute recess," Judge Clark declared, banging her gavel.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I gathered Elizabeth and Becca to head outside for some fresh air. I needed to have a talk with my husband and our lawyers.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

They had all gathered in an isolated corner to talk about what was going on with the trial, and what the hell the prosecution was trying to do by calling up all of these witnesses from Amber's past. Becca had taken a bored and troubled Elizabeth home to entertain her for the day, and the four adults had cups of flavored coffee as they gathered to discuss the situation.

"Shannon, what the _hell_ are they trying to do in there?" Amber demanded. "I really don't appreciate having former friends and teachers dragged all the way out here to testify against the man I love!"

The two lawyers exchanged a _look_ before Melanie opened her mouth to speak. "Mort, Amber, what they're trying to do is show how mentally and emotionally open Amber was to Mort's 'manipulation.'" She took a sip of her coffee before explaining further. "They're basically trying to prove that Amber was emotionally and mentally unstable when Mort took her, and show how easy it was for him to convince her that you two are soulmates."

Mort went livid. "You mean that they're willing to prove that Amber's as 'mentally unstable' as I am just to get their way? But she's their daughter!"

"And if they prove her unstable, they'll be able to take her home with them so that she can be 'treated' for her illness," Shannon said, sipping her drink. "And if they prove the _both_ of you unstable, Mort will be locked away, Amber will go with her parents to be 'treated', and Elizabeth will go with them out west." She took another sip of her drink. "After all, they are her only other relatives, besides her uncle, and he's not financially stable enough to care for her, so that just leaves her grandparents."

Mort looked over at his wife and saw her go pale. He instantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close, knowing that she needed him since it looked like she was going to pass out any second. Her pale face and quivering body told of her fears and concerns about what the future could hold for their family and friends. If her parents had wanted money, Mort would have willingly handed over his entire fortune, the one which had exploded exponentially after he'd released the book that Amber had first edited for him. He would have gladly sold the homes in Europe and the apartment in New York City if they could have been left alone.

But it wasn't about money…it was about a set of parents that couldn't accept the fact that their daughter had grown up and left them to start her own life and family. And now they wanted her back, under any circumstances. This wasn't a battle of wills…it was war. Mort could feel the need for violence rise up inside of him, but knew he couldn't act on them. The experience with Shooter had shown him that too much suppressed anger and hurt could (and would) explode in unexpected ways, and Mort wasn't like that anymore…he had Amber and Elizabeth, he had love and support though this, and he would not jeopardize it for anything in this world.

Amber leaned into his shoulder and buried her face in his neck. Mort tossed his coffee cup away and wrapped her in a tight hug, closing his eyes and kissing her cheek, inhaling the warm, sugary scent of her perfume. Looking up over her shoulder, he spotted her parents giving them a disapproving glare that would have killed him, if it'd possessed such a power. Mort glared back before once again turning his attention back towards his frightened wife.

"Darling, you know that Hell will freeze over before either one of us will lose this case, and lose Elizabeth, to your parents," he whispered, wiping falling tears from her eyes. "I swear that we'll do everything we can to keep our Lizzie, and our lives, safe from them."

Amber gave him a tearful smile. "I know," she whispered. "I know you will, and that Shannon and Melanie will try, too, and that makes me feel a bit better. But I can't help but wonder how they managed to find all of these people and how long this is going to go on."

Mort pressed a kiss to her lips. "Hopefully not too long, beautiful," he whispered.

A cough interrupted their tender moment. They turned around to find Shannon and Melanie smiling tenderly at them. Amber blushed as Mort released her, but still kept an arm around her waist. Shannon nudged her cousin and gave her a wink. Mel winked back before turning back towards their clients.

"Mort's right, Amber," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shannon and I are going to fight to keep you two together, and to keep your family here, where it belongs. I can't tell you how we're going to do that, but we'll come up with something."

"Were you able to contact any of our friends in the writing community? Are any of them back from their tours or isolation periods yet?" asked Amber, her arm finding its way around Mort's waist.

Shannon shook her head. "No, not yet," she replied, drinking down the last of her drink. "No idea how to contact the isolated ones, either. Their addresses are unlisted, and the publishing companies aren't willing to give out the addresses they do have unless we have a warrant or subpoena ordering them to give the addresses to us."

Amber moaned in despair. "Is there any hope of finding any sort of witness anywhere?" she asked.

Mort tightened his grip on his wife. He could hear the desperation in her voice and could understand her concern. Her parents could find a dozen witnesses to testify on their behalf, and Shannon and Melanie could keep turning the tides around for the Rainey's, but they truly needed witnesses who were totally on their side. If they couldn't find anyone, then they might as well hand the entire case to the Olson's on a silver platter and kiss their family life goodbye. That could not - no, _would not_- happen!

Mort frowned in thought. "There has to be someone out there willing to help us," he muttered to the others. "Someone who knows how horrible Amber's parents really are, and are willing to go against them in a court of law."

Amber shook her head. "My father is well liked at his job as a box designer, and my mother is absolutely _adored_ at the day care center where she works," she growled. "By my guess, my father truly is interested in my wellbeing, but that still doesn't excuse him from what he's doing now, or has done in the past."

"Okay, so your father is a semi-good guy who's occasionally been there for you in the past," Melanie said, running her tongue over her bottom lip repeatedly as she lost herself in thought. "What exactly did you mean when you said that your mom was adored at work?"

Amber snorted. "What I mean is that, despite having abused two children of her own, she's very good at taking care of children that _aren't_ hers," she said bitterly, her eyes narrowing. "If you tried to charge her with being a negligent mother, her lawyers will bring in dozens of children and their parents to testify on my mother's behalf. They'll say that she's always been wonderful with their children, and that it's more likely that children run _to_ her than _away_ from her." Amber took a deep drink from her cup and tossed the empty container away.

Shannon frowned. "Evil at home, but an angel in public," she muttered, sipping the last of her drink. "That's usually what abusers do. If we could get people in here to go against your mother without letting the prosecuting party know about them, it would be great for our side."

Amber's eyes suddenly turned sad. "I just wish there were a few that could help!" she said, her voice hollow. "I just want this thing to be over!"

* * *

_  
Amber's POV_: 

After the break, we all returned to the courtroom. As I braced myself for another witness to smash my 'mental stability' issues into oblivion, the judge came and made an unexpected announcement.

"Due to circumstances beyond the control of this court, I will have to recess this trial for three days' time," she stated, looking between the two parties. "It will resume on that day at 1:00 pm."

The bang of her gavel signaled the end of the day, and the four of us headed outside and into the cold winter day. Shannon and Melanie grabbed a taxi and headed for their office so they could get started on the list of names I'd given them, and Mort and I headed home to see our greatest treasure…our little girl. Unfortunately, she was asleep when we got there, so the two of us sat on the couch, turned on some soft classical music and watched the snow fall outside our window. Boring, I know, but it was so wonderfully soothing and romantically perfect that I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Besides, who knew whether or not this would be one of the last peaceful moments we had together?

* * *

  
AN: Lots of mushy parts at the end of my chapters lately…should I stop doing that, or is mush good? Oh, well. Review and let me know how you think the story's going! Thanks! 


	11. And the Trials Go On

Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey or **_Secret Window_**, so suing is pointless.

AN: Not a lot of reviews for the last chapter. Oh, well, hopefully more of you will review this time. Oh, and I'd like to say that I sort of made a mistake earlier on in the story. Technically, there's a law that says a husband and wife can't testify against one another, but I decided to work around it a _little bit_. I'm sorry if that pisses anyone off, but I'm still working off of **_Law and Order_** (still own nothing of theirs), so please don't flame me for it. If it bothers you, feel free to e-mail me. Besides, lawyers work around laws, so why can't I? Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 11: And the Trials Go On:**

The brief three day recess provided by the courts gave our lawyers the chance to prepare further for the case. As Shannon and Melanie poured over notes and consulted with one another, Mort and I spent every free moment together either as a couple or as a family. Elizabeth was starting to feel the serious affects of the trail, for she was no longer as cheerful as she was before. Our vibrant, innocent little girl was convinced that something bad was going to happen to her Daddy, and knew that there was nothing she could do about it…all she could do was wait for the fateful day when the police took him away to a place where she would never see him again. These emotions may be a bit advanced for a child, but children are much more observant about things than grown-ups give them credit for, and I could feel that these were the things that were going through our darling Lizzie's head.

At last, the day of the trial dawned, and Mort and I once again headed for the courthouse. Becca had stayed behind to watch Elizabeth, since we all agreed that her mind couldn't take any more court traumas. We kissed our darling girl goodbye and piled into the car, our hands holding onto each other in a deathgrip. Shannon and Melanie had told us that it was likely today (or if not, one day soon) that Mort and I would have to testify at trial. They told us that we _technically_ couldn't testify against one another, but if called to the stand, the prosecution would try and manipulate us into bad-mouthing the other. Even though we all knew that there was no way we would give in to do such a thing, we'd have to prepare for it.

After everyone had taken their usual places in the courtroom, I could feel my heart start to beat faster. I was so nervous and scared about who would be called up to the stand that I could feel my hands start to shake, and my mouth grew dry. I knew that I couldn't be called up to testify against my beloved husband, but what if they found a way around it? Would I have to speak against him? Oh, God, I hoped not! Instead, all I could do was wait and see who would be called up first.

"The prosecution calls Amber Rainey to the stand!" announced Miss Perez.

I gaped in shock as Mort turned to look at me with equal surprise in his eyes. Our eyes met, and the tension between us could be cut with a knife. I was about to stand up and take my place up at the stand when Shannon stood up.

"Objection!" she barked. "Your Honor, there is the Husband and Wife Privilege that prohibits the testimony of one spouse against the other, without the defendant's consent and knowledge prior to being called! Since we have had no knowledge or consent for this testimony, it is an unlawful calling of a witness!"

"Your Honor, Mrs. Rainey has every right to testify in this trial since it involves the mental harm of a third party directly connected to her," Miss Kapusta countered.

"But since the third party is present and is actually pressing charges against my client, they are not able to call their daughter, Mrs. Rainey, to the stand to testify against her spouse!" Melanie snapped.

The judge seemed to consider the situation for a moment, her eyes going back and forth between the two parties. As she considered everything, I held my breath. Even though we knew that either Mort or I _might_ be called up to the stand, Shannon had neglected to mention that they needed Mort's permission for me to actually testify. I knew that they needed Mort's permission to put Mort _himself_ up on the stand, but I didn't know about the part of putting me up there. Why was I always the last to know everything? _And why is law always so complicated_?

Judge Clark bit her lip for a moment and made her decision. "I've decided that, since it does involve a harmed third party, Mrs. Rainey is to give testimony. However, if it holds _any_ sort of slander against Mr. Rainey," she looked directly at my parents' lawyers, "be it in question from the prosecution or answer from the witness, the testimony will be disposed of and her being called will be prohibited." Judge Clark looked directly at me. "You may take the stand, Mrs. Rainey."

I quickly gave Mort a soft, assuring smile and went to take my place at the stand. After swearing to tell the truth, etc, I took a seat and tried to remain calm. I won't say anything against my husband, no matter what. As Miss Perez approached me, I could only hope that Shannon, Melanie, or the Judge would interfere when necessary.

"Mrs. Rainey, when you were abducted by Mr. Rainey six years ago, how did you feel about it?"

I blinked. "Um, could you be more specific about that?" I nervously asked.

Miss Perez raised an eyebrow. "I mean when he was bringing you here, to New York, Mrs. Rainey," she replied. "Were you angry or sad or something similar to that?"

"Well, I was angry, of course," I honestly replied. "I mean, who wouldn't be, in that situation?"

"Did you try to escape from him at all during your voyage to the East Coast?" Miss Perez asked.

"I tried, once."

"Only once?" asked Miss Perez. "I find that hard to believe, Mrs. Rainey. Surely you must have tried more often than that!"

"Well, no," I replied. "I was watched very closely, so there was no chance for me to leave."

"I see." Miss Perez paced back and forth in front of me. "What about when you reached New York? Why didn't you try to escape then?"

"I had no way of knowing where I was," I easily answered. "We were in the middle of the woods, and for all I knew, we were miles away from civilization, and I never heard or saw anyone come close to the cabin."

"But the town of Tashmore Lake was only a few miles away," Miss Perez pressed. "Surely you knew that."

I was growing annoyed, but I didn't let it show. "I know that _now_; I didn't know that _then_," I calmly answered. "I had no idea whether we were near a town or not, or how far they were from us. Therefore, escape would have been foolish to even attempt when I didn't know about a great many things."

Miss Perez looked somewhere between annoyed and happy. "Did you want to escape from Mr. Rainey at all?" she asked.

"Yes, at first," I answered, even though I knew it would hurt Mort.

"But then what happened?" she asked, suddenly growing more confident that she was winning.

"I got to know him over the months, and I realized what a good man he was." I smiled at the memories of that time together.

"Even though he'd kidnapped you from your home and your family?" asked Miss Perez. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe that, Mrs. Rainey."

"Objection!" Shannon barked. "Basis of opinion, Your Honor!"

"Agreed," Judge Clark replied. "The jury will disregard the last statement."

"No further questions." Miss Perez sat down and Melanie got up, placing herself in front of the stand.

"Mrs. Rainey, when did you fall in love with your husband?" Melanie asked.

"Objection; relevance, Your Honor?" asked Miss Kapusta, standing up.

"Your Honor, the prosecution has tried to imply that Mrs. Rainey suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and I am trying to disprove that theory," Melanie calmly answered.

"I'll allow it," Judge Clark stated. "You may answer the question, Mrs. Rainey."

"I fell for him about three months after he took me." I remembered how my feelings for Mort had grown over that time span, and had exploded after he had taken me on the tour of Europe…it was one of the best times of my life, besides holding Elizabeth for the first time.

"So you _didn't_ instantly fall in love with him after he took you?" Melanie asked, as though double-checking my answer.

"No, I didn't," I replied. "It was a gradual thing, and it took a great deal of time to do so."

"Thank you, Mrs. Rainey." Melanie sat down.

"Any further questions, Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez?" asked Judge Clark.

"Not at this time, Your Honor," answered Miss Kapusta.

"You may step down, Mrs. Rainey," Judge Clark directed.

I complied and sat down in my previously vacated spot, breathing out a sigh of relief. Man, I hated having to say things in front of people. How I managed to get through high school drama class was _beyond_ me. Well, at least it was over with…then Miss Kapusta stood up.

"The prosecution calls Mr. Robert Olson to the stand."

_Crap_. I watched as my father took the stand and got sworn in. _Oh, God_…

"Mr. Olson, could you describe Amber before she was abducted all those years ago?"

My father licked his lips. "She was a good, smart girl, a quiet girl, and she'd just graduated from college," he answered. "She was looking for work, and had been ready to start paying back her student loans as soon as she could." He sniffed as though holding back tears.

"I see." Miss Kapusta put both hands behind her back and began to pace. "How did you find out she was missing?"

"I got back from work, and she wasn't there," my father replied. "She's always home when I get back, and if she's not, she always leaves a note or calls me at work from home. I waited for hours, thinking that she'd somehow forgotten to leave a message or call, but she never came back." He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket. "Her mother and I got worried, so we called the police to help search for her. We never gave up hoping that she'd come home, and we were ecstatic when we saw her on Oprah several months later."

"And what exactly do you hope to achieve through the charges you've brought against Mr. Rainey?"

"I want him to suffer for what he's done to my family and to my daughter." My father's voice was full of anger and hate. "I want justice to be served!"

"Thank you, Mr. Olson," Miss Kapusta replied. She sat down as her colleague took her place up by the stand.

"Mr. Olson, what was life like for Amber when she was growing up?" Miss Perez asked.

"Objection! Relevance?" snapped Shannon.

"I'm simply trying to establish Amber's unstable emotional background which connects with the idea of Stockholm Syndrome, Your Honor," the prosecution calmly spoke to the Judge.

Judge Clark nodded. "I'll allow it," she replied. "Please answer the question, Mr. Olson."

I saw my father fidget a little before replying. I knew that he didn't want to tell everyone about how my mother had verbally tormented us, but he was under oath: if he lied, he'd go against every moral lesson he'd ever taught us, and if he told the truth, he would lose the case. I saw him take a deep breath before opening his mouth to reply.

"She had a very good childhood," he answered. "She was a very happy little girl, and we spoiled her with toys, books, and movies. After that, she became a somewhat secluded girl. We couldn't reach her, and I think that she cut herself off from people. She didn't have very many friends, only us."

Oh, _hell_ no! This was _not_ happening…my father was telling only the part where Mom had been nice before I was 10 years old, then making up a crap-ass story about my teens! '_Oh, God, the lying son of a-' _I glared at him, letting him know what a scumbag he was. He was going to ruin my life with his lie! Oddly enough, I could have sworn I saw his mouth twitch, like he was trying hard not to smile or smirk at me.

"Thank you, Mr. Olson," Miss Perez said before turning towards the prosecution. "Your witness."

Then Shannon stood up and said the most shocking thing. "We have no questions for this witness at this time, Your Honor."

Melanie stood up as well. "However, we would like a brief recess of the court so that my collogue and I may confer on questioning present and future witnesses."

Judge Clark seemed to consider the matter. "Very well, Miss McKnight and Miss Black," she said. "Court will reconvene in one week's time." The gavel tapped, and the day was over.

I reached over and grabbed Shannon's arm as my parents walked past me, smug smiles on their faces, as well as the faces of their lawyers. I waited until the courtroom had emptied before speaking, since I didn't want anyone to hear what I had to say to them.

"Shannon, why didn't you or Melanie say anything!" I quietly snapped at them. "You know what my father said was a lie, so why didn't you question him?"

Our two lawyers glanced at one another. I swear I could hear the gears in their heads turning as they tried to think of a decent response to my question. I looked over at Mort, but saw that he was just as upset as I was. Our two lawyers had better have a good explanation, or someone was going to get hurt. Finally, Shannon spoke up.

"Amber, you know very well that we can't question your father's testimony without a witness to confirm what we're accusing him of," she whispered, trying to calm us down. "It's one thing to accuse a man of perjury on the stand, but it's another to accuse him and be able to enforce that accusation. We need proof that he's lying, and without that proof, his testimony is sound."

I felt ready to cry.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

The moment he saw that Amber was getting ready to cry, Mort wrapped his arm around his wife in an attempt to comfort her. He couldn't believe that her father had had the nerve to lie up on the stand. It was unbelievable, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"It's alright, darling," Mort whispered to his distressed wife. "It's alright, everything will be okay."

He felt her sob harder as her arms went around his waist, begging for him to hold her tighter. He complied with the silent request, and tried hard not to glare daggers at his lawyer-friends. Mort Rainey did _not_ like people who made his wife cry, especially during stressful times like this. It made him feel helpless, and that was a feeling that he couldn't stand having. If there was a way to fix this, then he would do his damnedest to find it!

"Amber?" he whispered to her. "Amber, honey, let's go home. I think Lizzie's waiting for us."

He felt her slowly calm down in his arms. She looked up at him with red-rimmed brown eyes and nodded. Mort then looked over at his lawyers and gave them a small smile.

"Try and find a way to kick their asses next week, okay?" he said. "After all, that's what I'm paying you for."

Melanie gave him a small smile. "Yeah, but you're paying a discount fee, since we're friends and all," she joked.

Mort rolled his eyes at her before escorting his wife out the door and onto the curb. He quickly hailed a taxi and helped his wife into it before climbing in himself. During the entire ride home, Mort held his wife around the shoulders and whispered assurances and words of love into her ear, knowing that it would help calm her down a bit.

When they finally arrived at home, Mort took a moment to passionately kiss Amber outside their door, feeling her melt in his arms and glad that he was there to hold her close when she needed it. He felt her sigh in bliss, and smiled against her lips. Oh, yes, he knew how to cheer her up.

It was hard for Mort to end a loving kiss with his wife, but he knew that if they didn't get inside soon, Elizabeth would have a fit the size of Montana. Sighing, Mort pulled back and saw that Amber's eyes were still closed. The red was gone from around her eyes, but he could still see the tear-streaks running down her cheeks. He leaned forward and gently kissed them away as Amber sighed and leaned close against him.

Finally, Mort pulled back and smiled down at her, only to find her smiling back up at him. He gave her another quick kiss on the lips before putting the key in the lock. He'd barely opened the door when they were almost bowled over by a small bundle of energy. When Mort looked down, he saw his little girl looking up at him, her brown eyes sparkling. He smiled before bending down to pick her up in his arms.

"Hey, sweetie, did you miss us?" he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Did you have fun with Becca?"

Elizabeth nodded. "She was trying to teach me how to do kung fu, but I don't think I did it right," she said, looking worried. "I kicked her in the leg, and now she can't walk."

Amber's jaw dropped before she raced inside to check on their babysitter and friend. She returned a moment later with a slight smile on her lips and a very red-faced Becca. "She's fine, honey, you just bruised her," she assured her daughter.

"She's got a mean right kick, she does," Becca said in fake Irish accent, giving Elizabeth a wink while the little girl laughed. "Seriously, though, she's a natural. You should sign her up for lessons." The blue-haired woman gently tapped Elizabeth under the chin before heading out the door. "See you later!" she called back.

Amber shook her head as she took their daughter into her arms. "Next time Becca teaches you how to fight, make sure you're both well-protected," she gently chided a blushing Elizabeth.

"Okay, Mommy," Elizabeth said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "Can I go play with my toys now?"

Amber laughed. "Sure, sweetheart," she said, putting the squirming little girl down on the ground.

As the little ball of energy raced to her room, Mort closed the front door and locked it as he placed a kiss on his wife's cheek. "I'll go order dinner," he whispered, going into the kitchen.

"Yes, please," she replied, chuckling. "Kung fu…honestly, who would have thought?"

Mort burst out laughing.

* * *

AN: Review! 


	12. Surprise Reunions

Disclaimer: I _wish_ I owned Mort, cause then I could bounce ideas (and other things) off of him…

AN: Okay, the story is **officially** ending in a couple chapters. It's sad, but true. Don't worry; there will be a new **_Secret Window_** story as soon as I can manage to organize it in my head. I hope I can count on people reading and reviewing it…I'll feel very sad if you don't (wink, wink). Oh, and I've never seen/read and don't own the story/musical **_Wicked_**, which is a story about the Wicked Witch in the Oz books. I only thought of it after learning that **_Cats_** wasn't playing Broadway anymore. Enjoy!

**Chapter 12: Surprise Reunions**:

_Amber's POV_:

We (meaning our lawyers, Mort and I) tried our best to think of ways to discredit my father's testimony, but there wasn't one. I couldn't think of anyone who had witnessed my childhood that I could still contact, primarily because I didn't know if they still lived anywhere near my old hometown anymore. Hell, I couldn't even remember their addresses if I tried! My friends and I had only known _how_ to get there, not what the address was. Besides, I couldn't even give directions to anyone…I had a terrible sense of direction…ask Mort, he'll tell you. It's embarrassing, but true.

Two days into our recess from court, Melanie and Shannon had just gone home and Mort was napping in our room, with Elizabeth asleep in hers, when I decided to go online and see what was up with our writer-friends. Most of them were on the Internet, so I decided to burn some time and escape for a while. As I was typing in the name of an author, I had a name flash in front of my eyes.

Kari White.

Of course! Kari, my best friend, the one I'd told everything to! But was she still at her old home with her mother? She'd been putting herself through college, but she had to be done with it by now…it _was_ over six years ago, after all. Oh, well, it couldn't hurt to look her up online; lots of information on people was on the Internet these days, so there was the chance I could find her. If she'd married, though, I was in serious trouble. Well, you never know unless you try.

I punched her name into the Google search engine and got hundreds of names. I sighed and punched in her name and my hometown, hoping to narrow the field a bit. I was ecstatic to find that only five sites came up, and I clicked the first one on the list. As I scanned the information, I realized that it couldn't be her. A female singer on Broadway with the same name as my best friend? Not likely…Kari had _wanted_ to be a singer, but had changed her mind towards becoming a history teacher. _Oh, there's a link to a picture_…I clicked…and I gasped.

Oh, my God, it was her! My best friend was on Broadway!

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

"Mort, for God's sake, _wake_ _up_!"

He woke to his wife frantically shaking his shoulder. "Amber, what is it?" he groaned.

"Mort, I think I've found a way to help us win!"

_That_ caught his attention. He sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "What? How?" he demanded.

"Mort, you have connections on Broadway, right?" she asked, still gripping his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure I do," Mort replied, now extremely confused. "But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Just trust me when I say that we need to go see the latest production of **_Wicked_** on Broadway, and that we need back-stage passes," Amber said, her grip tightening on his shoulder. "You do trust me, right?"

Mort simply smiled at her; could the answer be anymore obvious? She smiled back and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before handing him the phone. He sighed, but accepted the device nonetheless. Amber quickly left the room as Mort punched in a number and waited for his friend to answer.

"Hey, Jerry, it's Mort," he said. "You remember that favor you owe me from Amber and me attending last year's Christmas gala?"

* * *

_  
That night, Mort's POV_: 

That night, the Rainey family attended a Broadway show for the first time as a family. Mort had taken Amber several times (as well as his cursed in-laws), but Elizabeth wasn't deemed old enough until recently. Besides, it was a good night to spend some time as a family. So, after dressing appropriately for the evening, the three of them took their seats in the front row, center, of the audience. Elizabeth was practically bouncing in her seat between her parents, but Amber did her best to calm her down before the show. When the curtain opened, Elizabeth was so captivated by the performance that she remained still for the entire evening.

As the curtain came down for the final time that night, Mort escorted his family towards the backstage door. At the door, he flashed the passes that would get them to see the one person they needed to see the most. The guard at the door took a good look at the passes before he summoned an escort for them with his walkie-talkie. A few minutes later, the three of them were at the door of the starlet of that night's stage: Miss Kari White. Mort saw Amber slowly raise her hand to knock, but before she got the chance, the door was thrown open by the singer herself. The two long-time friends stared at each other for a long moment before one of them reacted.

* * *

_  
Amber's POV_: 

I couldn't help but stare. My best friend was standing in front of me in just as much surprise, and as I was slowly gathering the ability to speak to her, I was enveloped in one of Kari's famous bone-crushing hugs. The air was pushed out of my lungs, and my feet were lifted from the ground…did I mention that I couldn't breathe?

"Kari?" I gasped. "I…can't…breathe…"

I was quickly dropped back to the ground and hauled inside the dressing room, Mort (holding Elizabeth) following close behind. I was quickly pushed into a nearby chair while Kari took one across from me. Mort took a different seat at the other side of the room, and quickly placed Elizabeth in a comfortable position in his lap. I doubt that Kari even noticed Mort and Elizabeth, because she started talking as though they weren't even there.

"Oh, my God, Amber, where have you been!" she cried, gripping my hands. "When they couldn't find you, I almost lost my mind! And when your brother disappeared, I freaked out even more, and your parents wouldn't tell me anything! Where were you? Why didn't you try to call me!"

She asked all of this without even taking a breath, but I wasn't surprised; Kari had great lungs, which was probably why she was _here_ and not finishing her degree in history. I gave her a small smile as I held her hands and started to explain myself to her. I told her of the whole kidnapping event, and how I had fallen for Mort and married him. Kari's eyes widened considerably throughout the whole story, but when I pointed towards my husband and daughter sitting on the other side of the room, her gaze softened. I then called Mort over and introduced my family to my best friend. Elizabeth connected with Kari immediately (like she always does with strangers), and was soon settled in the singer's lap.

"But I still don't understand why you never tried to contact me, Amber," she said, her eyes showing profound hurt at being left out of my life for so long.

However, I was extremely confused. "But I did write letters," I said. "I gave my parents letters to give to you when they got home. I had no idea whether you were still at home or not, but I figured that they would give the letter to your mom and that she would forward them to you."

It was true. The first couple years my parents had come to visit, I'd given them notes to give to Kari so that she wouldn't worry about me. Since I didn't want my parents to read the notes and get information from them, I never included anything except the phone number and address we had in NYC. After not getting a response, I figured that Kari had gotten mad at me and never wanted to talk to me again. I explained the situation to her, and she frowned.

"Well, I guess that explains why I never got them," Kari said, toying with Elizabeth's long, dark hair. "It could be that your parents either threw them out, or never bothered to try and deliver them at all."

"Makes sense to me," Mort replied, rolling his eyes.

"But what happened to you, Kari?" I asked, curious as to how she'd ended up here.

"Well, I was at my mom's house until last year, but then I went to one of those karaoke bars and got really hammered," Kari explained, turning a slight red. "I didn't know what I was doing, but I ended up onstage and sang a song that I don't remember singing. There happened to be a talent scout there that was so impressed with me that he brought me to New York City to sing here on Broadway."

My jaw dropped a bit before I started laughing. "Only you could sing perfectly while drunk," I joked. "Still, it looks like we both got what we wanted," I said, wiping tears of laughter out of my eyes.

"Too bad we're about to lose it," Mort said, putting his hand on mine to remind me of the reason we were here and the situation we were in.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked, looking down at a now-sleeping Elizabeth in her lap.

"Kari, my parents are trying to get Mort incarcerated and break up our family so they can get me back home with them," I softly answered.

Her jaw went slack. "What?" she gasped. "They can't do that, you're a grown woman! You're not a kid anymore, how could they do this?"

"We don't know, but they are," Mort said, squeezing my hand. "Would you be able to testify at the trial? It's a private one, so no one will know you did so." He smiled. "Hell, the press doesn't even know that I'm being charged, so you'll be safe enough. What do you say?"

Kari looked at me. "Do you even have to ask?"

* * *

_  
Five Days Later, Amber's POV_: 

I took a deep breath as we entered the courtroom. My nerves had been shot for the past several days, and Mort didn't look any better. Shannon and Melanie looked as cool and collected as ever, but I could tell that they were eager for the day to get started. I was thankful that Elizabeth wasn't here, because I had no idea how people would react to the new witness we were about to call in. As I took my traditional seat directly behind Mort, I noticed that my parents looked extremely pleased with themselves. _Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we_? I held my breath as the trial started and Shannon stood up.

"Your Honor, the defense would like to call Kari White to the stand," she declared, her face completely calm and businesslike.

I saw my best friend stand up and take her place at the stand. As she was sworn in, her eyes met mine, and she gave me a tiny smile. I didn't respond in any way, but I knew that she knew how much I appreciated what she was doing for me. Once sworn in, Kari took her seat on the stand, and the day really got started as Shannon took her position between the stand and the prosecution.

"Miss White, you are a long-time best friend of Mrs. Amber Rainey, is that correct?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, that's right," Kari replied.

"And how long have you been friends with Mrs. Rainey?"

"Since we were in preschool," Kari said, smiling a bit at Shannon.

"So you've been friends for practically your whole lives, is that right?" Shannon pressed.

"Well, yes."

"Miss White, do you know the Olson family that well?" questioned Shannon, taking a step closer to the stand.

"Objection; relevance, Your Honor?" protested Miss Kapusta as she stood up.

"I'm merely checking the credibility of Mr. Olson's testimony about Mrs. Rainey's past, Your Honor," Shannon stated.

Miss Perez stood up. "Your Honor, Miss McKnight is practically accusing my client of lying under oath!" she argued. "There is no reason to accuse them of such a heinous crime!"

"Mr. Olson is a parent who is willing to do _anything_ to achieve getting his daughter back home with him," Shannon pointed out. "I am merely checking to be sure that his testimony is sound."

Judge Clark looked between the two parties. "I'm afraid I agree with Miss McKnight on the matter, Miss Perez, Miss Kapusta," she said. "The question still stands, and the prosecution may sit down." She turned towards Kari. "You may answer the question, Miss White."

Kari nodded and turned back to Shannon. "Yes, I know the family quite well," she said.

"I see," Shannon said. "How much time did you usually spend with the Olson family?"

"Oh, I'd go over for sleepovers once and a while, but Amber frequently asked me to stay for the afternoon, or even for dinner," Kari replied, leaning back in her chair.

"And how would you describe the family?"

Kari frowned. "Well, her mother always seemed like two different people," she said. "When I was around, she was always way to giggly and smiley, but when I wasn't in the room or was talking to Amber over the phone, I heard her yelling at everyone."

"So you wouldn't call life in the Olson home as happy and content as Mr. Olson would have us believe it to be?" Shannon asked, placing both hands behind her back.

"No, not at all," Kari answered. Shannon nodded and went to take her seat as Miss Perez stood up.

"So you've heard Mrs. Olson yelling things at her family," she declared. "What sort of things would she be yelling, if you heard her so clearly?"

"Well, I heard her yelling at Amber about how lazy she was, and how she never did anything around the house," Kari answered bluntly. "I once heard her tell her husband how Amber would never amount to anything in the world because she didn't work hard enough at school to maintain her grades."

Miss Perez looked skeptical. "But couldn't those remarks come from a person who's had a bad day and is simply trying to release some steam?" she asked.

"Only if every day was a bad day," Kari answered, frowning at the prosecution as I hid a chuckle.

"Please answer the question, Miss White, not give your own opinions," Miss Perez stated.

"No, I don't think so," my best friend replied.

"But people say things they don't mean when they're angry or having a bad day," Miss Perez pressed. "Don't you think Mrs. Olson was having a bad day whenever you showed up at their home? Surely you weren't there and didn't call every day." She smiled patronizingly.

"Actually, I called at least four times a week, and each time I heard her yelling at Amber or her brother," Kari answered. "So no, I don't think that she was simply having a 'bad day' during those times I called."

Miss Perez looked slightly upset by this, but quickly recovered her calm mask. Instead, she headed to the front of the prosecution's table and sat herself on the edge of it, still facing Kari in a somewhat laidback yet intimidating stance.

"Sometimes people have several bad days a week, Miss White," the prosecutor said. "I'm sure everyone's had them." She got up from the edge of the table and approached the stand. "So let me ask you this: did you ever _see_ Mrs. Olson say something emotionally scaring to her children?"

"Yes, I have," Kari said, looking her directly in the eye.

Miss Perez and Miss Kapusta looked surprised at the answer, and Miss Kapusta stood up. "Approach, Your Honor!" she blurted.

The lawyers approached the stand. I never knew what was said, but Kari later told me that the prosecution had protested the use of her testimony as a means of discrediting my father's testimony, and that it held no validity. Shannon had apparently argued that Miss Perez had opened the door, and that the questioning could continue. All I knew was that the judge ruled in Shannon's favor, and the questioning was allowed to continue. Miss Perez declared that she had no more questions, and Melanie took her place in front of the stand.

"Where did this verbal abuse take place and what exactly was said?" Mel asked, crossing her arms.

"It happened on several occasions," Kari stated.

"Just give the one that stands out the most," Mel said, leaning back.

"That would be at our high school graduation," was Kari's answer. "We had just finished the ceremony and were getting ready to go out for our Senior Grad-Night Party. Amber and I were by the busses with a group of our friends, and I was around the side of the bus with the rest of the group, so she didn't see us, but we saw _her_. She told Amber that, if she knew what was good for her, she'd graduate from college the same way she did from high school, and that college graduation was expected of her." Kari shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Her mom also said that, if she didn't graduate from college, she'd be a huge disappointment and disgrace to the family."

"Thank you, Miss White," Melanie said, walking back to the defense's table. "Your Honor, if the prosecution wishes to further argue the issue, the defense is fully prepared to bring in the rest of the group of witnesses from that day in question to prove the lack of validity in Mr. Olson's testimony."

Judge Clark looked at the prosecution. "I don't think that will be necessary, Miss Black," she said. "Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez, if I were you, I'd try and strike a deal with the defense before it's too late." She picked up her gavel. "Court is dismissed so that the two parties may discuss the case privately." The sound of the gavel never sounded so good.

* * *

_  
Mort's POV_: 

Hearing the _bang_ of the gavel was wonderful for everyone. Mort stood up and hugged his lovely wife as their lawyers went over to talk to the prosecution. As the two Rainey's hugged one another, Mort saw that the Olson's had turned pale and looked ill. Smirking, Mort pressed loving kisses to his wife's face and lips, savoring them as he never had before. As they finished one particularly long kiss, Mort felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Shannon grinning at him.

"The prosecution has agreed to a private settlement meeting tomorrow afternoon," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "We'll see the two of you there." She leaned forward so only her two clients could hear. "And if I were you, I'd bring Elizabeth with you…might pull some heartstrings." Giving them one last pat on the shoulder, she left them alone.

Mort turned towards his wife and grinned. "What do you say we go home and tell Lizzie the good news?" he whispered hotly into her ear. "And afterwards, I'll show you how much I love you."

Amber grinned up at him. "Sounds good to me," she replied, just as hotly before turning to race-walk for the door, Mort one step behind her.

* * *

  
AN: Yay, the evil parents are defeated! Well, technically, not quite yet…they still have some stuff to work out with the Rainey's. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and **_review_**! 


	13. A Taste of Victory and Bitter Defeat

Disclaimer: If I owned **_Secret Window_** or Mort Rainey, I'd be very rich and very happy!

AN: This is the final official chapter of **_Disturbed Paradise_**. The next one will be an epilogue of sorts, and a wrap up of the world of Amber and Mort Rainey. It's sad to see it end, but I have nothing left to offer this story. There should be another brand new story up a week or so after this one ends (depending on how much and how fast I can squeeze stuff out of my muses), so don't worry. Just enjoy these last bits of this story (_this one happens to be _**rated** **R**, wink, wink), and I'll see you at the epilogue!

**Chapter 13: A Taste of Victory and Bitter Defeat:**

_Amber's POV_:

As cheesy as it sounds, the day after Kari's testimony was the perfect winter's day. A light dusting of snow was falling outside, small rays of sunlight were falling through the clouds, and our apartment was full of friends and family. Mike, Kaitlyn, Becca, Shannon, Melanie, and Kari had all come to celebrate the ass-kicking of my parents, so there were drinks flowing and food of every variety being handed around. We were all feeling confident in our beating my parents at their own game, and it was as though a huge ominous cloud had been blown away, leaving only warmth and sunlight. It was a wonderful feeling. But…

Somehow I felt that it wasn't really over until it was _over_, until we had fully played all of our cards and truly won out the game. We had beaten them in the courtroom, but there was still the dealing process that was scheduled a few days from now. For now, though…for now, we'll just enjoy the joy of family and freedom.

* * *

_  
Three Days Later, Amber's POV_: 

As Mort and I headed up the steps of the justice building, we clasped our hands together tightly, giving love and hope as we stepped into the elevator and headed up to the 10th floor. Our eyes were focused on the numbers above the door, watching the lights travel from one section to another, our grip on the other's hand getting tighter with every floor we passed. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my breathing growing heavy, and just when I felt ready to pass out…

The doors opened to a bustling hallway where cops and detectives chaotically ran around, trying to solve crimes around the city. I saw none of it in detail, however, since Mort began hauling me down the hall towards the conference room where my parents and all of our lawyers awaited us. We paused outside the door to gather our courage and give the other a quick hug and kiss of support. Finally, taking a deep breath, Mort opened the door and we stepped inside.

It was a nice room, with cherry wood furniture and windows to the left of us, facing the street. My parents sat with their backs to the windows, the D.A. sat at the head of the table, and Shannon and Mel sat on the right side. Our friends gave us a small, supportive smile as they nodded to the seats that were closest to the foot of the table, which, coincidently enough, was right across from my parents. I assumed that the D.A. wanted us to be eye-to-eye with those who tried to destroy our lives, but I didn't fight it. I simply took a seat to Shannon's left, right across from my mother, as Mort sat to my left, across from my father.

My concerned husband then took my hand and held it tightly, caressing the back with his thumb before starting to stroke my own thumb with his own. I felt all of the stress in my body melt away under his touch, my confidence in our victory and our lawyers growing stronger. I sat straighter in my chair, crossing my legs and squaring my shoulders. I let my confidence show, and I swore that I saw my mother begin to wilt in front of my eyes. Could it be possible that, without anyone to intimidate and scare, that my mother felt…powerless? Could she feel her power wasting away, vanishing like mist in a strong wind? It's possible…

Mr. Rockwell cleared his throat. "As you all know, we're all here to discuss a deal between the two parties," he stated, looking between our lawyers and my parents' lawyers. "Would you care to begin, Miss Kapusta, Miss Perez?"

It was Miss Kapusta who spoke first. "Mr. and Mrs. Olson would simply like visitations with their daughter and granddaughter," she said, looking at me. "The reason that they've gone through this whole ordeal was to get their daughter back and to show her how much she means to them."

Shannon shook her head. "That's hardly a reason to press charges against the man she loves and then threaten to snatch away their only child!" she snapped. Shannon then turned to look at me. "Amber, Mort, what do you want from this?"

I looked across the table, trying to see where my parents were coming from. It was entirely possible that they simply wanted their daughter back, but they had to understand that I wasn't a little girl anymore. I couldn't act like a puppet to do whatever they told me; I was a wife and mother with my own child, for goodness sakes! I didn't want to jump to their orders like I had before, I was my own person, damn it! And they had threatened to take away the two most precious people in my life, all because they couldn't let go of the past and accept that I was no longer in their grasp.

They had to realize that it was over.

I looked my mother straight in the eye.

"We want nothing more to do with you," I coldly replied. "I want a restraining order against them until I feel it unnecessary." I felt Mort give my hand an agreeing squeeze, and Shannon and Mel give me a smile.

My parents simply gaped at me, as did their lawyers. As my mom and dad did incredible impressions of fish, Miss Kapusta and Miss Perez started haggling like mad to achieve some sort of deal in favor of their clients.

"That is totally unreasonable!" Miss Kapusta said, glaring at us.

Melanie raised an eyebrow in calm disinterest. "I don't see how," she said, folding her hands on top of the table. She knew the law was totally on our side, and would press towards every advantage we could get. "You should count yourselves lucky that the D.A. isn't going to press charges of perjury against your client. If I were you, I'd take whatever we hand you and be thankful for that."

Mr. Rockwell turned and looked at my parents and their legal representation. "I'm willing to ignore the perjury charges provided you agree to the Rainey's terms and conditions," he softly replied, leaning back in his chair. My parents and their lawyers exchanged glances before looking towards him and nodding in submission.

Mort and I smiled.

* * *

_  
Two Hours Later: Amber's POV_: 

As Mort and I left the justice building, there was a spring in our step as we practically raced down the stairs towards the curb. Once we reached the sidewalk, Mort lifted me up and twirled me around, causing me to squeal in delight. He laughed at my reaction, and as he put me down, he pressed his lips to mine. A moment later, when we separated, Mort pressed his forehead against mine, his intense, warm brown eyes staring into mine.

"I love you," he whispered, rubbing his nose against mine.

"Love you, too, Mort," I whispered back, smiling at him.

We heard a cough behind us and turned around. There stood Mike and Kaitlyn, huge grins on their faces. Mort sighed as I giggled.

"So how did it go," Lyn asked, smirking at me. "Did you kick ass?"

"Was there any doubt?" Mort asked sarcastically.

"Well, no, but I still want to know what happened," Kaitlyn said, rolling her eyes at him. "So spill it!"

I laughed. "We managed to get a restraining order against my parents, forbidding them from coming within at least a dozen miles of us," I said. "They're not to call or visit until it's lifted, and the only letters we can receive from them have to go through our lawyers first, so they can see if there are any harmful words in it towards Mort or anyone close to us." I grinned. "And they have given up any sort of claim over me and Elizabeth, and to never again bring charges against anyone I love or care for."

Kaitlyn blinked for a moment before bursting out laughing. Even my brother nodded in approval as he and Lyn approached us, catching us up in a group hug. It was a great moment, and it would have continued if my parents hadn't walked out of the building at that very moment. I felt my body stiffen as I saw my mother scowl at me from behind my father's turned back. Noticing that I'd suddenly gone ridged, Kaitlyn looked over her shoulder to see what had bothered me.

I saw her eyes narrow and I knew she was up to something. I put my hand on her arm to try and stop her, but all it did was make her look at me with a particularly mischievous gleam in her eye. Before I could say anything, she was sprinting up the steps of the building, heading towards my parents. I grabbed Mort's arm, turning his attention towards me, which I directed to Kaitlyn.

"Oh, God, what is she doing?" Mort whispered.

"I don't know," I said, suddenly frightened for her; after all, there were cops and lawyers everywhere.

We watched as Kaitlyn met my parents and spoke with them for a few moments. Then, before I knew it, my mother was launching herself at Kaitlyn. I gasped and clung to Mort's arm as I saw Kaitlyn suddenly throw the _nastiest_ punch I'd ever seen. My mother went down with a nose that appeared to be gushing blood, and my father hurriedly pressed a wad of tissues to her nose to stop the bleeding. Once sure that my mother was alright, my father reached out to grab Kaitlyn. He got a very painful surprise, because he, too, ended up on the ground…due to a kick to the groin.

"Oh, dear…" I said, trailing off as Kaitlyn quickly talked to some police officers who had appeared when the fight started. A few moments later, they seemed to let her off the hook for her little 'fight'.

As she headed back towards us, Lyn had the biggest grin we'd ever seen on her face. "Well, it's nice to know that they won't be able to press charges against me, huh?" she said, winking at me. We all laughed as we hailed a cab and headed home.

* * *

_  
A Week Later, Amber's POV_: 

Putting the last dish into the cupboard, I turned and smiled when I saw Mort lying asleep on the couch. I still couldn't believe that he was here with me, happily dozing in the living room as Elizabeth played with her blocks next to him on the floor. In the days after the trial, we had spent endless moments together as a couple and a family. Elizabeth had finally returned to the happy, bubbly little girl that she had been before, and created dozens of pictures of us as a family. Mort finally realized that our little treasure wasn't going to be a writer when she told him that she wanted to draw pictures for his next story. Mort had simply told her that as soon as she was old enough, he would put her in charge of all the artwork for his books. Elizabeth had promptly hugged him and skipped off to her room to practice her drawing.

Today, however, I had planned a special surprise for us…meaning a surprise for just us two _adults_. As I finished drying my hands, the doorbell rang and Elizabeth eagerly raced to greet whoever had come to see us. Since she wasn't tall enough to reach the locks, though, she had to wait for me to open the door and let them in. I smiled at the sight of my little girl jumping up and down, clapping her hands and trying to guess who it could be. I looked out the peephole and spotted her three favorite playmates and opened the door.

"Uncle Mike! Auntie Lyn! Becca!" Elizabeth cried, throwing herself at them.

"Hush, precious, Daddy's sleeping!" I frantically whispered, flapping my hands at her.

"Not anymore," called out an irritated voice from the living room.

I chuckled. "I told you to go sleep in the bedroom!" I called back. "It's your own fault!" I heard Mort mutter something, but he didn't answer me, so I turned back towards our guests. "So why are you three young people here?" I joked. "Shouldn't you be out partying or something?"

"Party without our favorite little artist?" Kaitlyn jokingly gasped. "Oh, we _couldn't_!"

"Which is why we're here," Becca said, nudging her friend in the side. "We decided to take Lizzie out for a movie, some ice cream, and a little sleepover at my place. What do you say?"

I pretended to think about it. "Well…" I saw Elizabeth give me a pleading look. "Okay, why not?"

Thirty minutes later, the four of them were long gone, and I was kneeling next to Mort (who hadn't moved from the couch during the entire time we were prepping Lizzie for her 'sleepover'). I gave him a very slow, sweet kiss on the lips, which (obviously) prompted my handsome husband to wake up enough to respond to it. I smiled and pulled back just as the kiss started to get good. His eyes still closed, Mort gave a grunt of protest and blindly reached for me, but I was too far away by then. When he realized that I wasn't there, Mort quirked an eyebrow and spoke.

"It's a cruel thing to kiss and run, darling," he said, pouting.

"Then open your eyes and come and catch me," I softly taunted him.

Mort grinned and opened his eyes, quickly sitting up to come after me, but froze when he saw what I had on. A see-through, knee-high black nightgown was the only thing I was wearing…besides a big smile. I simply smirked at him before racing for the bedroom, Mort frantically running to catch up to me. Racing to the other side of the bed, I grinned at the frustrated look on my husband's face when he realized the challenge of catching me. Deciding to give my sexually frustrated Mort a break, I held up my hands in surrender; he took the hint and climbed over the bed, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me onto the bed, his body twisting so that he landed on top of me.

"Ah, so you've surrendered to me, huh, beautiful?" Mort whispered as he gazed down at me.

I smirked. "Hardly," I whispered back.

"We'll see about that," he murmured as he leaned forward and kissed me.

* * *

_  
Amber's POV: _**rated R**: 

I sighed as his warm lips met mine. It had been so long since we'd had a peaceful, loving night together. The other times had been desperate moments stolen when we feared for our life as a couple and family…this one was much more free…

As Mort's hand drifted down my side, I groaned, begging him to do more than just touch me, even though it felt wonderful. I felt his chest rumble as he softly chuckled into our kiss at my eagerness, and the rumbling from his deliciously warm and firm body only heightened my need for him. Knowing that I had to (literally) take matters into my own hands, I slid my hands under his shirt, pushing up the material with one hand and unbuttoning them with the other. Mort broke our kiss long enough to position himself on his heels and remove his shirt, his hands frantically pulling at his pants.

"Oh, so _now_ you're eager to get this started, hmm?" I asked, smirking up at him.

"Damn right I am," Mort growled, his hands loosening his belt, button and zipper.

As his pants and boxers joined his shirt on the floor, I realized that I hadn't seen him this eager to make love since our first few months of marriage. Smiling up at him, I beckoned him to me with a crooked finger. Not waiting for a second invitation, Mort pounced on me, pinning me to the bed, his dark-brown eyes turning black with desire, his lips crashing against mine. I groaned into his mouth.

His hands quickly pushed up my lingerie above my waist, giving my thighs a brief caress before sliding up to my hips. Mort's eyes flew open and widened as he realized that there was nothing underneath the gown except me, and he groaned as he frantically thrust his tongue into my mouth, showing what he wanted to do to me with a different part of his body. I barely had time to prepare before I felt him slam into me.

I cried out, Mort swallowing my cries as his hips frantically rubbed against mine in his hurry to climax. I wrapped my arms around him, my nails digging into his back, hard enough to leave marks as they sank into the firm and soft muscles. Suddenly, Mort removed his lips from mine, his eyes drilling into mine. I gasped at the intense love and desire in his eyes, desire that I hadn't seen since our marriage began. The intenseness of his gaze turned me on even more, and I could feel myself getting closer to the edge.

"Come on, love," Mort whispered to me, his breath hot and heavy with need. "I need you to be with me…end with me…please…"

"Yes," I gasped, throwing my head back, my eyes rolling back.

Stars exploded beneath my eyelids in a multitude of colors. I heard Mort cry out my name, telling me how much he loved me as he collapsed on top of me. Keeping my eyes closed, I felt the rest of my nightgown slowly slipping over my head and heard it softly hitting the ground. I slowly opened my eyes and looked directly into velvet-soft pools of deep brown staring down at me. I let a small smile show and was rewarded with a quick, gentle kiss on the mouth.

"Thank you for that, Amber," Mort whispered as he stroked my face. Suddenly he smiled. "Do you think we might have made a brother or sister for Elizabeth?"

I chuckled. "Well, you never know," I whispered, sitting up enough to give him a kiss on the chin. "It could happen."

"We could use a little boy in the house," Mort mused, his lips slightly pouting as he became thoughtful.

"You mean a little boy you can turn into a writer," I laughed, reaching up to playfully tug on his hair.

"Precisely!" Mort exclaimed as he settled himself on top of me. "Which is why we aren't leaving this bed until I'm sure of it happening."

Sighing, I let Mort's lips press to mine as he proceeded to reach for my eager body.

* * *

_  
Six months later: Mort's POV_: 

Sealing the envelope which held his contract with the publisher, Mort leaned back in his chair. He had finally published what he considered the greatest work of courtroom fiction he'd ever written…it was also the _only_ piece of courtroom fiction he'd ever written, but that was beside the point. The story was finished and on its way to being printed, due out in about three months…the tour would begin in four.

Sighing, Mort rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. It was almost summer now, and the forest outside the cabin was full of flowers, with deer passing by every few days or so. Elizabeth had taken to putting out carrots and apples for the growing fawns, and got a kick out of seeing the passing creatures go by their window. It was an adorable sight.

"Mort, could you help me in here?" Amber called. "You know how hard it is for me to bend down like this!"

Chuckling, Mort went into the living room to help his wife pick up the latest paintings done by Elizabeth. As he put the pieces of artwork on the coffee table, Mort took a seat beside his wife and rubbed her belly. His son was in there, he was sure. Even though both he and Amber didn't want to know what sex the baby was, Mort was sure it was a boy…Amber only hoped that it wasn't twins or triplets (or multiple births of any sort). She said she couldn't handle it.

"Well, Mr. Rainey, ready for another book tour?" she asked, her hand joining his on her belly.

"As long as you, the baby, and Elizabeth are there, I'm ready for anything," he whispered, kissing her. "I had a feeling that this story would have a happy ending."

Amber smiled and leaned into his waiting arms.

* * *

  
AN: That's the last chapter! The next is an epilogue, and the end. Stay tuned for the finale! 


	14. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I asked for the rights to Mort Rainey, but it didn't happen, so I still don't own him…damn it.

AN: Because I'm too lazy to write a huge creative ending, this serves as a remarkably short wrap-up of the Amber and Mort Rainey universe. It's happy and sad all at the same time, but it serves its purpose. Enjoy reading it, and I'll see you at the next story (which will hopefully be up in a week or two)! Ciao!

**Epilogue: Very Happy Endings:**

In the years that passed, many events happened to the Rainey family.

Amber eventually gave birth to a baby boy, whom they named Jared. As he grew older, Jared grew up to be the exact image of his father, right down to becoming the writer that Mort hoped him to be. He, along with his mother and older sister, spent many years following Mort to nearly every corner of the world, exposing them to the wisdom and art of many cultures and ways of life. In fact, it was due to these cultural exposures that eventually caused Elizabeth became a famous French painter, against the hopes and wishes of her father, though with her mother's blessings.

By age 22, Elizabeth Rainey had become a well-known painter and had moved to France in the hopes of absorbing more of the artistic atmosphere. Two years into her stay there, she married an amateur French painter, Jacque, and had numerous children, all named for her parents, Uncle, and Aunts. To honor the parents she loved and treasured so dearly, she gave her children the surname Rainey.

Mike eventually graduated from college in New York State, ending up with a degree in computer graphics design. His creations were featured on the covers of various magazines, as well as internet sites. After taking a year to settle himself and his career, Mike married his lady-love, Kaitlyn, who had started her own career as a singer/guitarist, with Becca as her make-up artist and supporter. Mike settled for working from home, and was able to follow his rock-star wife around the country, as well as the world.

Mr. and Mrs. Olson, having given up on visiting their daughter, settled for virtual meetings via the computer and internet. Eventually, Mort and Amber took pity on them and surprised them with a visit, bringing Elizabeth and Jared. Although the four adults never fully got along after the trial, they remained somewhat decent to each other during these family visits. Eventually, Elizabeth grew to care for her grandparents and even invited them to her wedding, as well as the births of her children. When they died, Mr. and Mrs. Olson's funerals were attended by their children, grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren.

In the fifty-odd years of their marriage, Amber never left Mort's side. She remained his inspiration when he needed it, and, most importantly of all, she gave him all the love a wife could give her husband. When the time came, they passed on together, wrapped lovingly in each other's arms.

It was Jared who wrote the story of their lives.

* * *

AN: Sorry it was so short, but I was so out of ideas on how to end it! I also didn't want to drag it out, so I'm sorry if this was so lacking…I'm just so excited to start my next story! Anyway, please leave a review, and I'll see you all soon! Later! 


End file.
